The Big Bang
by Idream3223
Summary: AU/OOC/M The Great Reveal was for a different race of Supernaturals not vampires. Change one thing, change everything, and some love stories find their own way to happen no matter the odds. This is an Eric and Sookie story. Go Viking! :) **Feature story in The Writer's Coffee Shop June 2014**
1. Mega Ball Millions

_A/N- I've been fighting a big case of writer's block that I finally realized is centered around me not having any fun with the stories I am trying to write. So, I decided to indulge the smut fairy that lives in the heart of me and screw with canon. I don't know if this is going to be very plot oriented, but I can tell already that it is going to be fun to write. I hope it's as much fun to read. As with most of my pieces lately this is inspired by the song The Big Bang by Katy Tiz. I will add the video on my word press site if you want to check it out. _

_Let the smut begin…_

**The Big Bang- Mega Ball Millions**

When we find ourselves in our darkest moments it is easy to let despair take over and drive. When hope is lost we are in that moment vulnerable. In the dark we forget that we are tiny individuals in the vastness that comprises the universe around us. We forget that we don't know everything, that we can't see all the way to the end and that when the end comes, no matter how prepared we are, we never ever see it coming.

If we are lucky, winning the mega jackpot millions fucking lucky, we can look back after and either laugh at our own naiveté or discern some deep meaningful life lesson from that sack of shit and lemons that we were dealt and asked to make shit flavored lemonade from, as though someone would appreciate it, want it, buy it.

Not many folks are lucky, and Eric Northman certainly did not count himself among the chosen few. No mega ball millions for him.

After trying everything he could think of to avoid the clutches of the Queen of Oklahoma, Eric's pragmatism had come to the forefront and took over. Acceptance is the gateway to change, he thought and then smirked a little as he thought about his precocious child Pam and Dear Abby platitudes. He loved her, and he knew that thoughts of her and her escapades would hold him together as he faced this latest fucking from his maker Appius. He refused to let his anger drive him, Appius would pay one day of that there was no doubt, but to think on it too much was to let despair in too close when Eric needed his wits about him.

He had been sold into what amounted to slavery. Accept it. He doubted he would ever leave the treacherous court of this queen. Accept it. He would not bow down, ever. Accept it! The last thought aimed at her highness who had yet to even set eyes on. He was under a maker's command to travel to her, to serve her as she saw fit. He was hers. Accept it.

Later, there would be plenty time of thoughts for escape and vengeance. Later, he would find a way to process that his maker had found a new way to rape and belittle him, vicariously, albeit, but he knew who was pulling the strings. His strings. Accept it! Pushing all his turmoil deep inside he prepared to exit the car. They had just arrived at the Queen's court in Tulsa and he needed his game face. For just a moment his eyes drifted shut and he sought the calm center of himself. The guard sitting across from him in the back of the limo chuckled derisively.

"Scared, vampire?" Eric ignored him. The royal guard was always comprised of the largest assholes. "I would be if I were you." He leaned closer, as though to whisper a secret in Eric's ear. "I hear that she is vicious when she is like this. You will be lucky to survive here for even a night." Again, Eric ignored him. He knew how to pick his battles and this one was a waste of his strength. Going deeper inside himself he cataloged what he knew about his new monarch.

She was nearly as old as him, eight hundred to his millennia. She had ruled Oklahoma openly with a proverbial iron fist since the Great Reveal six years before. No one fucked with Oklahoma. She was sought after by the other monarchs for her age, her beauty, her power, and Queendom. They wanted her to marry, to fuck, to merge, whatever they could get, but she held them off effortlessly. She made it plain that things would be handled on her terms, and her terms only. She expected the best, demanded it in fact, and inspired loyalty in her subjects effortlessly. Each of them would die for her.

And they will all die for this. Eric let himself indulge in bloodlust for a moment and then realized he was on the edge again. He took a deep breath, unneeded, but that was how he had learned to meditate centuries before. It was the key to centering himself, even if that was the only practical purpose it served. That one thing was enough.

The car came to a stop and the guard exited the car, holding the door for him. He slid out of the plush leather seat and stood, buttoning his dark blue suit jacket. "You are to wear this when you meet the Queen," his guard had told him. He quashed the rebellion that automatically rose up and took the suit. Pick your battles, he thought, and then noticed that he suit had been tailored especially for him large frame, and it showed off his excellent physique as well making his eyes shine like sapphires in the snow of his complexion. She has good taste, he thought and then allowed himself a smirk. She did pick me after all.

The guard led him to the door and opened it for him to proceed inside. The foyer was made of green and white marble, set in a checkerboard pattern. Before him rose a large winding stair case with dark cherry wood banisters. He stopped and waited to be told which way to go. "Up there, second door on the left." The guard remained in front the door. Eric moved forward climbing toward to what he did not know, but he would handle it. He always handled it, this would be no different.

He didn't knock, instead opening the door and strolling in like he owned the place. He found himself in a study, one wall comprised completely of glass, with the red the dominant color in the room. She sat on the sofa, in a red dress that made her appear a part of the room itself. She rose to greet him, standing in four inch heels and moved gracefully to stand before him. His fangs dropped down reflexively as he took in the Queen of Oklahoma for the first time. She looked him over from head to toe, studying his frame with a smile playing on her lips. He caught her tongue slip out and lick her lips unconsciously as she perused him as intently as he was studying her. Finally, her eyes met his.

He took another breath then, feeling like someone had kicked him in the ribs. She was exquisite. She smiled at his reaction. Her face told him she was used to being admired, and that at the same time, her returning that admiration was not as commonplace. He reflexively stood taller, and on impulse bowed at that waist in greeting.

"Welcome to Oklahoma, Eric," her voice like soft dark velvet caressing his flesh, causing his ancient flesh to experience a chill, all his hair standing on end as though there were a charge in the air.

"Thank you, Queen Brigant."


	2. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover

**The Big Bang- Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover**

_Fuuuuck, I should have bought a lottery ticket._

Eric straightened from his bow and looked into the dark eyes of Queen Brigant again, the charge still filling the air, brushing his skin like he wanted her lips to do. She smiled, like she heard him.

"I did," she said, turning from him so fast her hair flipped over her shoulder, almost brushing him as she moved back to the sofa.

"Ah…you did what, Majesty?" he moved to follow her, his steps automatic, wanting to be close to her. Her laugh made him shiver again as she sat and turned to look at him again.

"Hear you. I did hear you, Eric. I am sure you know I am a telepath." He sat suddenly, his grace deserting him momentarily as he felt a knot of resentment form in his middle at her intrusion.

"I had heard that rumor, yes, but I don't believe everything I hear." He leaned back now, composing himself, and maintaining his mask of indifference as he crammed all the thoughts he didn't want to share down deep into the darkest corners of his mind. He would not allow himself to be violated in this way in addition to everything else. It was not acceptable.

She had watched him compose himself and waited until his seemed ready to go on with their conversation.

"I am not listening now, Eric, and I won't again until we are finished talking." He inclined his head, doubting her, so he thought about attacking her, ripping her throat open and gorging on her precious Fae blood until she turned to powder on his shoes. She didn't even so much as flinch at this vicious imagery. Perhaps she was telling the truth. Perhaps she was a liar. Time would reveal the truth. She leaned forward and picked her glass of merlot, taking a small sip before cupping the glass between her hands and looking at him intently.

"When Appius agreed to our deal I knew that you would have to come, but whether you stay will be your decision. If you want to leave I will release you." Eric's eyebrow went up, he was intrigued. She went on when he didn't speak. "The Great Reveal six years ago let the world know that the Fae were real and that we were here to stay. So far no other Supernaturals have come forth, and having to guard against the humans as well as other races has left us at a disadvantage." She paused, before pinning him with her stare again. "It's left me more vulnerable than I am comfortable with at this time. I have ruled here as part of the Fae regime for centuries, openly since the Reveal. I am much sought after for…many reasons." Again she hesitated. She shook her head again, flicking her long blond hair over her shoulder in that unconscious way that all women who wear their hair long have. "I want to offer you a deal."

"Go on," he prompted his voice low, almost a growl.

"I am approaching the time in my life when I need to take a mate." His eyebrow went up again, his cock seemingly tied to it rose as well. Noticing the change in his body she exhaled softly, moaning so low that no one other than a vampire could have heard it. She licked her lips again, before pulling her focus back to his eyes. "Many want me to choose them, but I refuse to tie myself to any other royal Fae house through offspring that would inevitably result from our undeniable union. However, I can't deny what is going to happen, and I can't stop it. For many days I will be weak and unable to protect myself as my body seeks to reproduce. I need…I need a mate who can service me, produce no offspring and protect me while I am at my weakest."

"And you think this is me you speak of?" his voice even deeper now as he inevitably imagined her legs splayed open and wrapped around him while he pleasured her over and over again.

"Your maker is a monster, but somehow that monster produced a child of honor and strength. If you tell me that you will be the man I seek, then I will believe you." He leaned back now, looking for the hook, while again regretting that he had no lottery ticket for tonight's mega ball millions. Mega balling millions, his mind whispered, and a ghost of a smile crossed his face. He shifted his hips seeking to find some relief from the tailored suit that was not designed to comfortably contain an aroused vampire.

"And, what's in this for me?" he pinned her now, demanding truth.

"You mean besides the best sex of your existence?" She tilted her head, and smiled before taking another drink of wine, this one bigger than before. He watched the muscles of her throat work as she swallowed and shifted again as he grew impossibly harder imagining her swallowing him, moaning as her throat muscles worked to take him all the way down her throat. "If you are so inclined, once I am recovered, I would like you to stay and work for me as my enforcer. Your reputation as a lover is second only to your reputation as a warrior." She set the glass down now, and moved closer to him. "I am brave, and strong, but I need someone I can put my back against when things get crazy." Her hand came up now to cup his jaw, her eyes still locked on his and he fought the impulse to lean into her touch.

"I would be your slave?" he asked, his rage and contempt of his perceived situation coming through clearly in his tone as well as his choice of words.

"Never that, never a slave, Eric." She moved closer now, still looking him in the eye as she caressed his face. "You would be my lover," she kissed his cheek softly, "You would be my Protector," she kissed his other cheek now, "You would be my friend." She stopped then and waited for him to speak.

"Your 'friend'?" he repeated, sounding surprised

"Have so many do you, Viking that you don't need another?"

"No, I don't think I have any at all."

"Me either. I have enemies, and suitors, and usurpers, but no friends. No one I can count on but myself. Has your life been so different, Eric?" Rather than speak he brought his hand up to cup her face now, mirroring her caress of him.

"No, not that different at all."

"I have no illusions, Eric. I know what you are, and I know what that means. We are natural enemies, we are both opportunistic creatures, but we also understand honor, and passion, and the value of comrades in arms. It is your choice, Eric."

"And you will be my lover," he kissed her cheek now, "My Protector, " he kissed her other cheek, "You would be my friend?"

"Yes, I would be all that, Eric, to you as you are to me." He broke her gaze and looked down at her moist kissable lips. His eyes drifted shut as he allowed himself to feel the warmth of her closeness, and the wonderful smell of her.

"For how long?" he whispered, leaning in closer to her mouth.

"Who knows?" she asked, leaning in as well. "What is time to two immortal creatures such as us?"

"Indeed," he mumbled just as his lips touched hers, slowly, softly. They were so sweet, so fucking sweet and when she moved into his arms to deepen the kiss and wrap her limbs around him, he pulled her closer and claimed her lips for himself. After long, slow, hot minutes of kissing, he moved to her neck, instinctively finding the spot he knew she would have, and where it would be on her neck right below her ear. He blew air across her skin damp from his kisses and she ground down on his aching flesh that had found its way to the heat radiating from between her legs. She knew his spots, too.

"It's your choice, Eric." He growled in response pulling her hips against his aching erection again.

"If I say yes, can we get out of these clothes and seal this deal with sweat and cum?"

"Ummm, no." It took a moment for her words to sink into his sex addled mind.

"Whatdoyoumeanno?" his words came out in a frustrated rush. She pushed down on him again, moaning now herself.

"If you say yes, then we seal the agreement with a dance and a drink. I want you to have no doubts that I seduced you into agreement. I want your mind clear when you decide, so that there are no doubts when I claim your body for myself as to how you got there."

"Got where?" he asked, looking at her with large drugged blue eyes, barely tracking what she was saying. She leaned down then, pressing her lips to his ear and whispering softly.

"Buried inside me, screaming my name as I ride you at a gallop." His whole body shuddered in desire and need as her words penetrated the haze in his mind. As he fought for control she slipped out of his arms and away.

"You play dangerous games, Highness," he growled at her.

"They're the only kind that are any fun at all, " she smiled at him and downed the rest of her wine before standing and holding her hand out to him. He stood and she pulled him to the middle of the red room and into her arms. Music started playing from somewhere and they moved their bodies together in time with the music. His chin resting on the top of her head. "This is dangerous for you, too, Eric," she whispered. "Many will want to kill you for taking this position alone, not to mention the ones who will try and take you out to get to me, and then there is me."

"You?" he asked, kissing the top of her head, still moving in time with the music.

"There is the remotest possibility that you will not survive my voracious sexual appetite." He chuckled.

"Oh, but what a way to go." She laughed then, too.

"I'm not kidding. My guard was right, you should be scared."

"A hero is not a man who is never scared, he is a man who is scared and acts in spite of it."

"And you will be my hero?" she asked looking up at him, suddenly serious. He knew what she was asking, and he considered a moment what she offered him.

"Yes." She pulled his head down then toward her neck.

"Then let us drink to seal the deal."

"What?" he pulled back slightly unsure what she was playing at.

"I can and will read your mind. It will be a gift and curse for us as it has always been for me. In return, I will share blood with you once so that you might feel me as well. So that you might know the truth of me as I will know it of you." He hesitated. "You know it's the only way. We are not trusting creatures. We didn't survive this long by trusting blindly." He still hesitated. He never shared his blood but he knew the truth of what she was saying. Finally, he nodded.

"As you wish, Majesty."

"No," she shook her head, "As we both wish, and Eric? When it's just us, when we are like this, call me Sookie." He nodded a serious expression in his face.

"As we wish, Sookie."


	3. Come in Closer

_A/N OMG! I just discovered an entire TRIBE of smut fairies! I am not alone! :) Hugs and smooches to all the little fairies who have read, commented, checked the favorite and follow boxes on this story! I had no idea there were so many of you out there but I love to hear from you! :)_

_Light the fires and bang the drums, fairies, it's about to get hot in here. MUAH! To you all. Smut AHOY! :)_

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_"As you wish, Majesty."_

_"No," she shook her head, "As we both wish, and Eric? When it's just us like this, call me Sookie." He nodded a serious expression in his face._

_"As we wish, Sookie."_

**The Big Bang- Come in Closer**

"Oh, I like that!" she purred looking up at him a sexy smile on her lips pulling one to his own. "'As we wish. I do wish, you know?" He shook his head, not clear on her meaning. "Right now, in this moment I want you. I. WANT. YOU. " she stressed the words for emphasis, and he responded instinctively, showing her his fully extended fangs to demonstrate his own want of her. "There will come a time when I will need you. Do you understand the difference, Eric?" He nodded. "Tell me," she commanded softly imperious.

"To want a thing is precious, it is a response to desire. To need a thing is to declare it essential to your very survival."

"Oh, I did make the right choice in you. Sexy, smart, and unbelievably fucking hot. I am a lucky fairy." He growled softly, vibrating against her as she praised him. It felt like she was snuggled next to a very large, very happy kitty cat. She rubbed herself against him. "Right now I want you, and it's important that you know that. I will need you, but I intend this to be more than that." Teased beyond his ability to hold on any longer he spun her around and pulled her tight against him, rubbing his arousal across her backside while he latched onto her neck, covering it in kisses. She purred now, and did not protest at his handling of her.

"No more talking," he growled pulling her harder to him, resting his hard and ready cock in the impression of her ass. She pushed back against him, testing him further.

"More," She echoed him pulling his arm up and to her lips and kissed his wrist softly before he heard her sharp little fairy fangs descend and pierce his flesh. He growled mouth open, his own fangs on display , and moved to her neck while he moved against her, in time with her moving against him. He felt her pull on the wound she had made and it felt like her lips were attached to the engorged flesh that wanted to slide into her like his fangs. He was moving on pure instinct now, the man battling the vampire. _Fuck or suck,_ his mind screamed and he rebelled not understanding why he had to choose.

She let go of his wrist long enough to whisper fiercely, "No one said you had to choose!" before returning to her feast. His first taste of her then hit his tongue and his eyes rolled back into his head in pleasure. He pulled harder, taking more of her into him, feeling himself begin to burn inside as she slipped down his throat, touching him, lighting him up as he drank her down. He rubbed against her harder and continued to drink. She lost patience waiting for him and slipped her left hand down under her dress and up between her thighs, rubbing herself in time with the pulls on her neck and his thrusts to her backside.

Feeling her movements and her pleasure through their forming tie, his left hand traveled down and settled over hers, placing his large finger beside hers, and moving it at super vampire speed. She moaned around his wound and came hard in his arms still grinding against him. As she rode out her orgasm his hand slid further down where he slipped in one finger, moving it in circles around her opening, pushing out gently on each circle, stretching her open, alternating a deep thrust after every full circle. Soon, he added a second finger, swirling and diving in the same rhythm.

He felt his wrist wound start to close and reluctantly licked her neck wound closed. As he did, he slipped in a third finger, marveling at the heat and tightness of her body as she alternated grinding against his erection and pushing down on his swirling fingers. She was locked in motion, her only focus her pleasure and her much needed release that was just beyond her reach. She whimpered when he shifted his body to whisper in her ear. "Sookie…."

"Angh!" her only answer.

"Sookie," he blew into her ear and brought his right hand up, plunging down the front of her dress to cup her breast, rolling it in his large hand, thumbing her hard nipple. It moved with his touch, hardening more and showing him how much she was enjoying his caress. "Sookie, I want to feel you cum. Let me feel it. Now!" His breathy command broke her, wanting only to please him and give into his simple, hard, much needed request. "Your lover commands it, Sookie. Let me feel you!" Her groan filled the room, as he felt his hand suddenly grow wetter from her release. He groaned and slid down and around her body in a move of pure grace, treating her like she was the pole and he the dancer. He landed on his knees in front of her, looking up a moment into her eyes, fangs still fully extended.

Rising up on his knees, never breaking her gaze, his hands came up and pulled the top her dress down, roughly, freeing her breasts to his gaze. Her flesh broke out in goose bumps under his gaze and he leaned in to take one in his mouth, purposely fully creating a shallow cut with his fang before taking it into his mouth to suck slowly and sensuously. She arched into his mouth, her hands coming up to cup the back of his head and keep him right there, doing that.

Like he had planned to leave. Never, he thought sucking harder, tasting her blood and her flesh, was at a loss to figure which tasted more exquisite. His hands were still tangled in her dress which was ripped from her body when he unconsciously flexed in response to her touching him, moaning for him. He released her nipple then and sat back to take her in. She was naked now except for her red heels and he was struck at the softness of her flesh, the yards of toned alabaster flesh on display before him. She was curvy in all the right places, her breasts heavy demanding that he release the shreds of her garment and cup them in his hands. They fit perfectly and she leaned forward to let him take the weight of them full in his palms. His thumbs stroked her nipples again and she closed eyes in pleasure. He stayed that way for seconds, minutes, days.

_What is time to two immortal creatures such as us? _ Her question echoed in his mind again and he understood even better now the value of such a gift like immortality. All that time. All those things he might do with it. The mind boggled.

The mind boggled until the tongue took control, zeroing in on her wet thighs. It came out and started at her knee licking up, not wanting to miss a drop as he tasted her in this new way, all the way up to the core of her. His tongue took the opening of her as his fingers had, sliding in and then swirling the entrance of her, stretching her again and then sliding in deeper only to come out and swirl again. She whimpered and when his fingers came up to massage her aroused clitoris this time her hand came to rest over his, pressing him harder against her. A stream of obscenities fell from her lips as he increased and decreased the pressure going harder on her clitoris when he relaxed his tongue and then reversing it. He worked her like that until he felt her legs start to tremble telling him clearly that she was close to release again. That was when he equalized the pressure and worked at stretching her with his tongue while he pressed hard and rotated on her pleasure button. She screamed and this time his mouth was positioned to get every last drop. He drank her release as greedily as he had her blood, catching her before she crumpled to the floor just as her knees gave way once and for all.

Pulling her to him he attacked her mouth voraciously. The taste of merlot, his blood and her cum rolling over his taste buds driving him on, but despite his own pressing need for release he forced himself to pull back and rest his forehead against hers for a moment. She needed time to recover and he would not take her until she was ready and recovered. He had just resolved himself to the biggest case of blue balls in vampire history when he felt her amusement roll through their tie. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Oh, come on. You don't think you are done, do you?" Her words barely registered when she pushed him back and looked down at him, her face flush with pleasure and desire dancing in her eyes. "You look incredible in that suit, but you have entirely too many fucking clothes on for what I have in mind now."

"What you have in mind?"

"Oh, yes." She leaned down now and took his mouth as he had taken hers. "I like the taste of me on your lips." She reached down then, running her fingers through her wet folds before pressing them into his mouth, coating him in her again before kissing him deeply again. "Yes, just like that. MMMM. I should always be on you like this." He pulled her closer seeking to taste more of her, kissing her hard and rough attempting to express his driving need to be in her in any way he could. Suddenly she pulled back.

"Eric, can you rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time?"

"W-WHAT?" he screamed from frustration and need more than because of the words she said. Her breasts jiggled as she laughed, entrancing him again for a moment. He was leaning in for another taste when she suddenly stood and held out her hand. Not questioning he let her pull him up beside her as he moved to pull her closer she stepped back just out of reach looking him over from head to toe.

She waved her hand and his clothes disappeared, leaving him naked in his erect glory before her. "Oh!" she gasped as she took in the sight before her. Six feet and four inches of golden god, perfectly formed. She waved her hand again and the tie he had used to gather his shoulder length golden mane was free and falling around his face like it had been caught in the wind. She walked around him then, admiring his sculpted form moaning in pleasure. Her sounds went right to his cock, which was now dripping his need he was so aroused. When she stopped in front of him, it actually twitched under her admiring gaze, demanding her touch, which still did not come.

"It's a human game," she said softly. "Pat your head and rub your stomach. Can you do more than one thing at a time, Eric?" He growled and moved to take her, to show her what he could do and she danced back again, the devil in her eyes. "Did you know I am a Sky Fae, Eric?" He nodded. "Do you know what it means?" If it meant that he could slide into her wet heat he didn't care at that point what else it might entail. She laughed and he wondered if she was listening to him again.

She moved toward the wall of glass behind them and a door opened in it, the wind sweeping into the room, and caressing them both with a warm summer breeze. She looked over her shoulder and winked at him as she leaped into the sky and took flight.

_Fuck, she can fly!_


	4. The Sound of Pulling Heaven Down

_"It's a human game," she said softly. "Pat your head and rub your stomach. Can you do more than one thing at a time, Eric?" He growled and moved to take her, to show her what he could do and she danced back again, the devil in her eyes. "Did you know I am a Sky Fae, Eric?" He nodded. "Do you know what it means?" If it meant that he could slide into her wet heat he didn't care at that point what else it might entail. She laughed and he wondered if she was listening to him again._

_She moved toward the wall of glass behind them and a door opened in it, the wind sweeping into the room, and caressing them both with a warm summer breeze. She looked over her shoulder and winked at him as she leaped into the sky and took flight._

Fuck, she can fly!

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**The Big Bang- The Sound of Pulling Heaven Down**

He took to the sky after her, his predatory nature coming to the surface, senses heightened. He followed the smell of her arousal, and the feel of her in the tie they now shared. Up he went, into the clouds trailing after he like a heat seeking missile. _How apropos_, he thought allowing himself a smirk as he pressed on, feeling her get closer to him. His night vision caught a glimpse of her long blond hair fluttering up ahead of him. Suddenly she dropped from the sky and he felt a moment of panic wondering if she had fallen.

Zeroing in to catch her, he felt her joy as she rode the currents like a beautiful bird and he realized that she was not in danger. His arousal returned full force and he pushed himself harder to catch her. He was close, about to grab her ankle when she suddenly rose. Her movement so quick that she got a good lead before he could shift direction. Straight up she flew in the moonlight headed for a large grouping of cumulus clouds that were floating by.

_You can't hide from me!_ He sent to her and he could have sworn he heard her laughter come back to him on the breeze of her wake. He felt something then, something like exhilaration fill his chest. He heard himself laugh as well and felt the swell of joy in his chest.

_When was the last time I felt like this?_

He wasn't sure he had felt this before. Ever. Pushing the thoughts aside for now he hunted his fairy queen through the clouds, feeling for her, following her scent. He was closing in when she suddenly landed on his back, wrapping her arms around him, leaning around and kissing the side of his neck. "Gotcha!" she yelled to the stars shining above them. In a move she could barely follow he flipped them around so that he was on his back and she was resting on the front of him, still moving through the cloud bank, cold misty clouds touching their skin in velvety caresses.

"Claim your prize then, Highness." Her legs parted, splaying her across his hips, his aching erection resting on her stomach between them. "I can…what was it you said, pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time." He smiled at her and winked now.

"Yes, but can you do it while I ride you at a gallop, lover?" she volleyed back without missing a beat. Did she miss the beat? The beat he was sure he felt in his undead heart as he fully realized the perfection of the woman his arms. Licking his lips in anticipation he gave as good as he got.

"Fortune favors the bold, Sookie," taking his hard flesh in hand and looking at her, "Mount up," he whispered. She rose up then and let him guide his entrance. She was so ready for him that despite his size she took him all in one long slow sliding motion like it was her turn to ride the dance pole. _Perfect!_ He thought watching her expressions of pleasure as she felt him for the first time.

"Fuck, yesssss!" she screamed as she seated herself fully on him. For a moment she let herself just experience that feeling, rocking a little, enjoying the fit of him. They were still flying, though in an unsteady line. Becoming used to feeling him, her teasing smile returned. "I will fuck you until you beg me to release you as long as you can keep us in the air and flying straight, but the moment you waver, Cowboy, the ride is over." Beat went his undead heart again. Digging deep he used his vampire mind to section off the two things he needed to do to keep himself in the air and inside this incredible woman. Several beats passed before he smiled back.

"Ready. Set. GO!" he said through locked teeth, feeling her tense inside increasing his torture before she started to move.

The force she used to slam down on him, to bury him in the core of her at first made their flight unsteady but her rhythm was consistent and he learned to compensate quickly. "Fuck you are so good!" she yelled out, complimenting him on his flying of his fucking, he didn't know which and didn't care at the moment. After appreciating his skill she upped the ante by reaching back and cupping his balls in her palm, rolling them, tugging gently, urging him to lose control again. He roared then then, fighting to keep the ride going in all ways. He slowed the flight, out of the cumulus now and sailing through the night, the stars the only light he could see behind her head. This is what a god must feel like, he thought randomly, fleetingly as he held on to let go.

He saw her look up and smile a beautiful terrible smile. _**Beat! **_ Tilting his head back he saw they were flying right toward a thunderhead, lightening flashing in the distance. Before he could think what that might mean she shifted her body and rhythm to lay her body on his, pressing her full breasts to his hard chest and taking his lips in a furious kiss as she rode him in shallow, fast, hard thrusts of her hips. "Take us in, Eric. Fuck me in the heart of that storm!" she pressed him and though he thought there had probably been better ideas he could deny her nothing in this moment if it stopped what she was doing to his body and his mind. His heart.

As they sailed into the dark clouds he flipped them over so that they were both facing each other vertically, her legs still wrapped around him. He stopped them, floating in the clouds, his hands coming down to her hips forcing her down on him harder. Her moans of pleasure taking away his remaining reason. There was only his need to fill her over and over again, here in this storm forever. The lightening flashed around them. She threw her head back and screamed her pleasure as he pounded her relentlessly, wanting her to find release one last time before allowing his own, but it was going to be close. Thunder echoed in his ears, so close. He was so close.

_I want to taste her again_, he thought.

"Then do it!" she screamed over the storm. "DO IT!" She came hard on him when his fangs pierced her flesh, and as if in tune with them the storm flashed and crashed around them, rain pelting their skins on the outside while he flooded into her, his orgasm coming up from his toes, passing through every fiber of his being. He swallowed big mouthfuls of perfection while she came apart in his arms shouting his name in sacrifice to Thor as he pounded around them, as they pounded each other.

If they had been the kind of creatures that marked time, they might have noticed that it stopped for them in that moment. The sound and fury of their joining in the storm drawing attention to them from powers great and small. Somewhere, enemies known and unknown shivered and knew not why. Somewhere, allies known and unknown smiled and knew that the beginning had finally arrived.

But they were not the kind of creatures who marked time, and in the moment cared for nothing except each other. The rest of creation fell away in that perfect moment.

Eric bit his tongue and healed her marks from then and earlier while holding her close to him. She whimpered softly and kissed his shoulder where her head was resting. The storm itself that had paused in awe their power and passion resumed with a crash of thunder and driving rain. He pulled her closer to shelter her from the cold wet drops and felt her smile against his skin. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and they were back in the room where they had started earlier that evening, fully clothed and sitting on the sofa.

Eric looked around, shocked and trying hard to hide it. Was it real? Instinctively he reached for the blood tie and he could feel her satisfaction from their mutual pleasure. He took a breath and could smell his blood and seed inside her. He relaxed without knowing why the idea that it had all been a dream would bother him so much. She reached for his hand, threading her fingers with his.

"Real," she whispered. "Lover." Squeezing her hand gently he whispered back.

"Protector."

"Friend," they said together, looking deeply into each other's eyes.

_Equal,_ they both thought but neither spoke it.

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Sookie showed Eric to his light tight room, which connected to her royal chamber. It was decorated in shades of blue and green that brought out his eyes and complimented him just as his suit had done. "The combination to this room will be only known to the two of us. I take responsibility for your safety while you are at rest. No one will harm you, and I will take the head of any who try."

He could feel her sincerity in the tie and didn't doubt or question her promise.

"Tomorrow when you rise we will speak of your duties, introduce you the staff and get your oriented here in Tulsa." She was walking to the door of his chamber when she stopped and turned. "I think you will be happy here, Eric." She closed the door behind her and didn't wait for his comment.

He whispered, "Me, too," to an empty room before falling onto the bed and breaking out into uncontrollable laughter.

It had been quite a night.


	5. Chameleon Girl

_A/N- A big thank you to my fellow fairies who know how to appreciate a good fantasy smutting. It warms my heart to amuse and entertain. As I said at the beginning this was supposed to be a fun time to take my mind off the story that wouldn't let me write it. I haven't given up yet, just approaching it with some lateral thinking, which is hard 'cause I am a head on approach kind of girl._

_For those of you who complimented my romp among the clouds I thank you, because if I had a flying Viking of my own that experience would definitely be on the to do list. :)_

_For those who don't seem to get it, I say this:_

**Fiction: literature in the form of prose, especially short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people.**

_I looked it up for you. Take it to heart. :)_

**The Big Bang- Chameleon Girl**

When Eric awoke the next night the first thing he felt was Sookie's anger. Waves of rage sweeping through their tie. His fangs snapped down, and he rose quickly going to his bag and dressing at vamp speed concerned that something was wrong. He entered her room through the connecting door, and passed through without glancing. He could tell she was somewhere in the house but not that close. Following the tie he located her in what appeared to be her office and she was not alone.

He stopped at the door, calmed somewhat to see her in no immediate danger, and unsure of his place since they had not discussed his duties yet, he felt uncertain how to proceed. She had her back to him and the other man in the room who was standing at the front of her large dark wooden desk shifting from foot to foot, clearly wanting to leave but not able to manage it for some reason. Hesitantly, not having noticed Eric yet, he spoke to her back.

"Your majesty, what shall I tell the King of Mississippi with regard to his proposal?" She crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest. He heard her take a calming breath, seeking to quell the rage that still rolled over her in waves. She dropped her head a moment and then stood tall and straight before turning to face him. He saw her register his presence by the door and she gave slight nod in his direction before she answered.

"You may tell His Highness that his offer is appreciated but the answer is no. I will not be marrying Claude, and before you even start there is nothing he can do to change my mind." The man squirmed uncomfortably, clearing having more to say but unsure how to convey it.

"But, the time to choose a mat-", she cut him off.

"Is none of your concern, nor is it his. You may go now." She nodded her head in the direction of the door, curtly, indicating this audience was over. Turning on his heel he found himself face to face with a mountain of Eric, who looked down at him coldly. Taking a long hard look, the man gasped.

"Vampire!" He said it like he might have said "dog shit" had he discovered it on the bottom of his shoe and Eric drew himself up taller to look way down at the man before him, who barely came to his shoulder. In a flash, Sookie was there in front of Eric.

"You are in my house, Preston. If you want to leave it with your person intact you will speak to those you find it with respect!" She pushed forward into his space, and into his face. "Is that clear?" she asked through clenched teeth. For a moment Eric saw contempt shine in his eyes and then he remembered to mask it as he made a mocking bow to her and scurried from the room. She stood there for a moment, her back to Eric. She was so angry she was shaking. He wanted to move closer to her and steady her, but again was unsure. They had been very close last night, but that did not tell him where he stood today in this unknown monarchy. So, he waited.

Finally, after several minutes she turned to him and smiled a little as she looked up into his eyes. "You better get used to that. I chose you because you are the most fearsome warrior known to all supernaturals. That will only exacerbate their resentment of you. There has never been any love lost between fairy and vampire through the eons."

He smirked at her, "Fortune favors the bold, or so I hear." She fought it for a moment and then gave into the smile.

"Yes, I heard that somewhere recently as well." Moving around the desk she sat motioning him to take a seat on this side of the desk. Once he was comfortable she leaned forward steepling her fingers as she spoke. "You know I wanted you here to be my enforcer." He nodded. "That will encompass much before we are done I think, but right now it will mostly be about shuffling off would be suitors and marriage proposals I have no interest in whatsoever. Currently I am being pursued by Mississippi, Texas and Nevada to consolidate kingdoms and produce a royal heir. Preston is an emissary for Mississippi, King Claude Crane. Do you know of him?"

"Some. He is known for his ruthlessness with his subjects and his state. Fantastically obsessed with himself and his fortune, I believe." She smirked then, nodding slightly.

"Yes, Claude is certainly in love with himself, and with my fortune as well it would seem." Eric looked around the room and assessed it to have been decorated with a budget that would support a small third world country for a year, maybe two. Apparently, Oklahoma had something to covet. Something besides it's queen. "I understand that you yourself are quite wealthy in your own right, so you have some head for finance and understanding in these matters?" He nodded, wondering where this was going. "Good. You won't be stealing the good silver then, I take it?" He felt her humor at teasing him and smiled back. She had told him she knew he was a man of honor last night, her teasing about missing silverware was her avoiding what was really on her mind. He waited patiently. She cleared her throat and looked down at her hands.

"I suspect they plan to kidnap me." He leaned forward suddenly very interested in what she was about to say. "No, I know they plan to do just that. I heard Preston just now confirm what I had already deduced."

"What does that gain them?" Now he understood the rage he had felt from her on awakening.

"Timing is everything. I told you last night, when I enter the mating cycle I will be at my weakest. My magic will be unreliable at best, and I will be at the mercy of those around me. If they have me during that time they could…" she hesitated her face showing her fear and disgust, as he felt the tension roll through her. "They could impregnate me, forcing The Bonding and the marriage and merger would be_ fait accompli._" He felt his own anger then at someone forcing her against her will. An image of her last night in the storm came to mind, she was wild and unbroken. He wanted her to stay that way.

"What can I do?" She looked at him, her eyes for a moment showing her fear and then it was gone.

"For now, I want you to be with me when I travel at night, as my body guard. I want you to familiarize yourself with my routines, and the people around me and consult with me like this. I want you to help me see what I might be missing."

"I can protect you physically, of that there is no doubt, but…what could I tell you that your telepathy would not?" She leaned back then, resting in her chair.

"Telepathy is my go to move. I worry that I have become so dependent on just that one talent that I might miss something obvious if I weren't so dependent on it. My gift is only as good as what they are thinking in that moment. It tells me nothing of the nature of a person, of what they might be capable of. I need a strategist, someone to take me beyond the moment and into what will likely pass. I need time to prepare."

"You predicted the impending kidnapping," he pressed, feeling there was more she was not saying as to her reasoning.

"Yes, but what did I miss in seeking to confirm that suspicion? There could be spies in my house that have learned to circumnavigate my go to move. It's not unheard of. Also, there is much to running Oklahoma, and as I approach the mating time I find myself distracted and listless, unable to focus. Preston had been thinking he should take me tonight, until he turned around and faced Mount Viking in my office."

"And what did he think then?"

"Oh, shit?" Eric laughed suspecting there was some truth in her statement.

"Why a vampire?" he was very interested in this answer.

"Because no fairy can be trusted."

"Why me?" he was most interested in this answer.

"Bedtime stories." He raised an eyebrow but she only smiled and stood. "I need to change and we need to go."

"Where to?"

"I have to be at the orphanage at seven for a visit with the children and then we have a charity ball at nine. Did you find your tuxedo?" She was already moving out the door and toward the stairs, presumably to change. He followed. He had a feeling he would be doing that a lot.

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His Armani tuxedo was hanging in her room. When they entered she handed it to him and moved to the closet, leaving a trail of clothes behind her. Taking in his black jeans, wife beater and leather jacket she said, "What you have on now will be sufficient for the orphanage, we will change when we arrive at the hotel. I have a suite there waiting." He watched her cover her exquisite body with jeans and a red sweater that hugged her ample bosom tightly, accentuating her curves perfectly. Again, flashes of last night crossed his mind and he wondered if they would be like that again, soon. Ever.

"Yes," she answered, moving toward the mirror to check her hair. It was already up in a French twist, ready he would guess for the formal event later that evening. She looked at him in the mirror. "I still have time to _want_ before I _need_." His body reacted to that statement as though she had caressed him with her hand. _ And I had the gaul to ask her what was in this for me._ "No, you had the right to ask, Eric. You came here under a command from your Maker. Specifically, 'To serve at the whim of Oklahoma until she releases you.' I told him how to word it. He thought it was to enslave you, so Appius was more than willing to grant my boon in wording. I knew it was because I reserved the right to free you the moment you arrived and offer you a choice." She turned to face him then, moving closer and raising her hand to his cheek. "I am so glad you chose to stay. For more reasons than you will likely ever know, I am so very glad."

Because she had granted him access to feel her emotions he knew beyond a doubt that everything she said was true. It warmed him in some new way, some way that was more intimate than anything they had shared so far, and they had shared quite a bit.

"Yes, we have shared a good deal already. More than you know." Eyebrow up again, he took her hand in his, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand gently asking for more information. Her eyes closed slightly at this touch and she smiled before leaning up to kiss his other cheek softly. "Oh, ok. That thunderstorm ride? It was number three on my bucket list."

"To fuck in the middle of a thunderstorm was number three on your bucket list?" Wicked flashed in her eyes again.

"No. Fucking YOU in a thunderstorm was number three on my bucket list." She held his gaze a moment letting him feel her mischievous nature as well her honesty and then left the room.

He gave himself a minute to process that revelation, and then ran out at vamp speed to catch her as she reached the bottom of the steps.

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Just as their feet touched the marble of the foyer they were surrounded by her royal guards. The asshole from the car last night approached him. "I see you survived after all." _Barely_, Eric thought, hoping she would hear and knowing the asshole would not. She was all business now though, his soft teasing Sookie put away, somewhere safe he hoped, because the woman who stood before him was all Queen.

"John, you will not address Eric in this manner, again. Ever. His function here is to serve me in the capacity I see fit, as is yours. The difference you need to remember is that I asked him here. You came with the place." The guard nodded, attempting to look trite for his Queen but in Eric's eyes he didn't quite pull it off. Fucking fairies, he thought.

"Yes, Majesty."

"Eric, this is John Quinn, the head of my Sky Fae Warriors." Eric inclined his head slightly, wondering why this asshole had not been in her office when Preston visited earlier to protect his Queen. Then he remembered her saying that fairies couldn't be trusted. "John, Eric is my new personal guard, answerable only to me, and you should treat him and his requests with the same respect that you do mine." The large muscular fairy before him sputtered with indignation.

"You want me to answer to a vampire!" She stepped in closer and stared him down, though she was foot shorter than him. Eric saw her eyes light up from inside and glow as she reached out a tiny hand and brought Quinn to his knees. She waited for him to meet her gaze again before she released him.

"I don't want to have this conversation again." She walked away without looking back, head held regally as she swept through the front door of her house and out toward the car waiting to take them to the first their destinations for the evening. Both Eric's eyebrows were completely lost in his hairline as he thought about what he had seen and experienced in his short time so far in Oklahoma.

So, far nothing had been as he expected.

It had been unimaginably perfect. He took his seat in the car beside Sookie and closed the door before looking over at her trying to figure how this tiny form could hold so many women. Before he could speak she turned to him, flashed him her best Sookie smile and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Now, what was that about fucking fairies?"


	6. Bedtime Stories

**The Big Bang- Bedtime Stories**

The ride to the orphanage was filled with more teasing and laughing, the two of them in their own private world. Which, if he was honest was starting to be his favorite place to be. The Queen of Oklahoma had been a dreaded experience that he had done everything he could avoid. Gods, what I would have missed, he thought, as he watched her tilt her head back and laugh at some wicked thought that had just crossed her mind. He could hardly wait for her to share. _Would that I could read her mind!_

"Nah, you would be shocked right out of your jockey shorts." She winked at him. He heard himself assure her that under no circumstances would he be caught dead in jockey shorts, sending her into giggles again. "I can see you in red ones," she continued to tease and he felt his grip on reality slide away from him. Never in his long existence had he been free to speak like this to a woman who was unglamoured and something about taking their will had always lessened the experience for him. He wondered for a moment if vampires had been the race to do the Great Reveal if things might have been different for him, if he might have been allowed something like this with a woman who knew of his true nature and did not turn from him in fear. A woman who dared to tease him about imagining him in tiny red underwear.

There was nothing here in this moment that he found familiar, but somehow it still felt right, like he belonged. He belonged here with her, feeling this. Whatever this was. He knew that he didn't want it to end, and that rattled him even further because the one thing that he had been forced to accept over again were that all things ended. The good things usually few and far between were usually the first to go.

This realization made him want to pull back and close off, to protect himself. If he allowed himself to become used to this, to count on this feeling and it was taken away, he would …he couldn't even process what it would do to him. He should stop this now. He could still protect her and protect himself at the same time couldn't he? He could leave, she had released him. He could just get out of the car and fly away. Hide away from her and Appius and let them handle their own issues. That would best he thought.

"No," she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder, all her humor now fading. "That would be easiest. If you want to go I would let you." She reached down then and took his hand weaving her fingers through his, caging his hand, while her words reminded him he was free, her actions begged him not to take her up on it. Reality slipped further when be raised their entwined fingers and kissed the back of her hand, reassuring her in that moment with his action as no words could have.

"I have never had this before either, you know?" her whisper so low he had to strain his supernatural ears to hear her. "In all my life people have wanted me for my lineage, my fortune, my telepathy, my beauty. None of them ever wanted me, and taking a chance that you would see me, the real me and be my friend and ally in a world where I have had neither is scary for me, too. Even making the offer was scary. You might have left before you heard me out, as soon as I released you. Gods, what I would have missed," echoing his thoughts from earlier. They were quiet for a few moments and when the car came to a stop he heard her heart rate kick up and saw her smile return.

"This is my favorite place to be," she told him as she clambered over his lap and out the door closest to the entrance of the orphanage. He followed close behind her, going on alert as he took in the building, the entrances and thought how this would be a perfect spot to take her. She had ran into the building like it was on fire, no caution whatsoever. They were going to have to talk about that later.

When he found her she was surrounded by little ones, hanging from her arms and wrapped around her legs. He heard them whispering that "Fairy Godmother is here!" and he could feel their tiny hearts pounding in excitement as she tried to open her arms and hug them all close to her. She had a look of pure joy on her face that surpassed anything he had ever seen, she seemed to light from within, and perhaps she did, as she had with her guard earlier. Only this time it was love and not pain that she passed out to the toddling masses around her. Some of the magic in the air must have touched his long dead soul as well because he felt it swell with some of what those around him were feeling. _Everything would be well now, Sookie was here_. Or perhaps he had been thinking that all along and just never acknowledged it until her heard it echoed over and over like a Gregorian chant.

When she turned to look at him, they turned en masse to see what held her attention. "Everyone, this is my friend, Eric. Can you say hello to him?" He expected them to run but they trusted her implicitly and if Sookie declared him friend, then friend he was. She named them to him and he nodded to each in turn, trying to smile and finding that all his practice with Sookie on the ride over and greased his rusty tin joints, making it easier than he could have imagined it would be. No one ran away, no one cried, and he considered that a victory for some reason.

_Bad ass vampire here, right? _ She turned and winked at him again, letting him know that she found him just as stunning and sexy surrounded by tiny children as she did naked flying into the heart of a storm. What can you say to that? Accept it, his mind told him, a mocking paradoxical reminder of all the things had told himself to accept the night before. Pushing those thoughts away he refocused on the room and looked for entry points where she might be taken from her adoring masses for nefarious reasons. He had no doubt that the devotion of her toddling masses would slow them down, but sadly they would not save her should danger appear. That was his job, and while he had always taken it seriously it was taking on deeper tones for him now.

Now it felt more personal.

Like he was protecting himself, as much as he was protecting her. That calmed him because he had always been excellent at taking care of himself.

He watched as she followed them into their large dorm room and tucked each one in with a kiss on the forehead before taking a seat on the floor in the middle of them. "Story time!" they whispered excitedly.

"Yes, story time!" Sookie confirmed. "Tonight I have a story that I was told when I was small like you guys." She paused dramatically, and he saw that she held them enraptured. "It's a very old tale about a great warrior, a man of great honor who found himself in the clutches of an evil master."

"Scwary," a little girl in the bunk next to Eric whispered, pulling her covers up and peeking out.

"No," Sookie reassured them. "It's about how sometimes you will find yourself in the company of those of want you to be someone you aren't. They will tell that it's ok to do bad things, but in your hearts you will know what the right thing to do is, and if you are strong like the warrior you will always do what your heart tells you to do. It won't always be easy, and sometimes the fact that it's so hard will make it seem like it's easier to give in, but you must remain true like the warrior."

For the next twenty minutes Eric was as entranced as the little ones around them while she told a drastically modified version of his life with Appius, they were children after all, but she focused on him and how he had held on through all the darkness of that time to the man he was inside, because to let that be taken away from him would be the true darkness. She painted him a knight of old, a man of virtue and honor who stood fast in the face of the dark and not only survived but triumphed to find his lady fair, and they lived happily ever after.

"Were they slaying dragons together or kissing happily ever after?" a tiny boy asked in a very sleepy voice. Sookie smiled and stood to go kiss his head and tuck him in tighter.

"What do you think?"

"I think the kissing part would be ok, as long as they slayed some dragons sometimes, too." He yawned then and slipped off to dream land. Eric looked around and saw that all of them were now slumbering peacefully. She came toward him and took his hand, leading him out quietly to the car. He was in awe of her story, of her and had no idea what to say. He remained silent as the car started to move and she tucked herself up against him, accepting his need to process.

When they arrived at the hotel she looked at him and smiled softly. "Ready?"

Finally finding his voice he asked, "For kissing or slaying dragons?" Quick as any vampire he had ever seen she leaned over and kissed the end of his nose.

"Both. If we're lucky. One's no good without the other. Weren't you listening?" she teased.

"To every word." He exited the car and extended his hand back for her, she smiled and stepped out beside him like she belonged there. They entered the hotel together, and headed to their suite to don their armor for the evening.

Kissing and dragons. He really couldn't say which one excited him more.

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A/N- A BIG THANK YOU to all of you who nominated me for the Blood Awards! I am up in three categories:

Hit Me With Your Best Shot- Best One Shot- The Scientist

The Saucy Award- Best Sookie- The Scientist

New Kid on the Block- Best Newcomer- Twenty Questions

I am so tickled at seeing my stuff up there with my personal heros and favorites in fanfic! I am giddy! :) Please remember to vote for your favorites no matter who they are.

I also have an entry in Serephina's Writing Challenge- see if you can find me there and vote for me if you like my story! :)

Love to you all, thank you for your time and kind thoughts about my writing! :)


	7. Proving the Existence of a Higher Power

_A/N Sounds like most of you are still having fun, which pleases me immensely because so am I. I am delighted that you (most of you) are accepting of letting the story unfold. There are many things to explain and characters to reveal, but I will remind you all that this little romp did not come with a promise of actual plot. One keeps trying to sneak in, but I find that when writing stories where I have a story arc I have to spend time with characters I like less than Sookie and Eric. I like the two of them together, exploring each other and fighting their own demons more than long twisted plots that require others to take the stage._

_So, still no promises of plot, but against my will it could happen anyway. Eric has questions, and they will lead to answers and answers usually lead to plot, but the Viking runs the show and I won't give him up. So, whatcha gonna do? ;)_

_Thank you all for reading, reviewing and following this little romp. Keep having fun, that is what this stuff is supposed to be about! :)_

_Blessings to you all._

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**The Big Bang- Proving the Existence of a Higher Power**

He followed her into the elevator, scanning the main floor for threats and escape routes. It was what he would have done even if he were there alone. You didn't survive by entering into a new place blind. Anyone could turn on you at any minute, he had learned that the hard way. He stepped in front of her just as the doors open, looking for threats in the hall and then led the way out. "Room 3223," she whispered following closely behind. He had the sneaking suspicion she was looking at his rear as she trailed him, and while he was still on watch for potential threats he couldn't help but be amused when she giggled behind him, confirming his suspicion. "Well, you could hardly blame me," she whispered again. She produced an electronic key card to the suite and let him open the door and enter first.

The room was breathtaking. Decorated in shades of turquoise and blue. There were several large white vases in the corners holding long peacock feathers that matched the décor perfectly. He noted the balcony and considered it an excellent escape route for two people who could fly. She waited until he nodded before she stepped around him and started stripping again.

Off came the red sweater, which was draped carelessly over the large comfortable looking sofa.

Off came the jeans, and as he admired the view of her backside they slid to the floor where she toed them off, barely breaking stride. Next came the red bra and he realized he had been trailing her again when her thong landed on his head. Reaching up and removing the garment that was obstructing his vision he saw that she had disappeared into the adjoining room. He heard the shower cut on and hesitated. He wanted to follow her, into the room, and into the shower both, but she had not invited him. Then he felt her in the tie, calling him. Her desire for him to join her manifesting in waves of desire that made him shiver.

She laughed when he appeared behind her pulling her to his chest and wrapping his arms around her middle. "Took you long enough," she teased. "Join me?" He growled and started removing his own clothes at supernatural speed. He lifted her into the shower and stood pressed against her so the water could cascade down them both. She leaned forward so that he could wet his hair when he followed her. She reached for the scrubby dousing it in gel before turning back to him. She locked eyes with him and started to wash her body, slowly. She started at her shoulders and rubbed in small circles letting the foam build before she moved on the repeat the same process one arm, one breast, one leg at a time until she was covered in white foam. She turned then and bent over, way over, to reach her feet, scrubbing between her toes.

The view rendered him frozen. Her movements up to that point had been designed to incense, when she finally displayed herself before him he was shaking with his need to touch her. _Yes, it is need. Touching her is essential to my survival in this moment. _ He leaned forward and wrapped his hands gently around her ankles, shackling his flesh to hers. He held there a moment examining her delicate ankles completely encased in his massive hands. The contrast seemed ordained in some way. Slowly, never breaking contact with her he skimmed up her legs to her calves. He loosened his grip wanting this to be an all-encompassing caress of her body, not a something as indelicate as a squeeze. He lingered again looking at how her firmly toned muscles forced his hands to open to accommodate them. They were perfectly proportioned to her delicate ankles, but to touch them, to touch her, he had to open up more than he had before.

After a few moments of processing the metaphor he fallen into, he moved up to the backs of her knees, and found his thumbs working with a mind of their own in slow circles on this intimate skin. She moaned then, his caress in the sacred place more intimate than either of them had expected. It was such a simple thing but yet he knew he had never been inspired to touch a woman like this, and he felt sure that she had never allowed herself to be adored in this way either.

Finding a new way to share intimacy when you were as well traveled as they was exhilarating.

Both of them were trembling despite the heat of the water when he moved on up to her thighs. Here his hands opened wide, no longer could his fingers meet but they spanned her with a touch that she could feel in her very bones. She slowly stood as his hands moved up to her hips, sighing when he rested her firm cheeks in his palms, cupping them, still not squeezing, but letting them rest there. She knew then she could have fallen back and sat in his hands and been totally safe if she chose to do that, but he held her now, and she wanted to see what he would do next.

His hands darted around to the front of her stomach and collected the suds there before going to her lower back and spreading them around slowly. The slippery feel of her under his hands was intoxicating for both of them. Slowly moving up her spine he gently pressed into the ridges there, recognizing each one with his long delicate fingers, she responding by arching her back leaning slightly away to give him room to continue his exploration. He massaged her shoulders gently for a few minutes he reached the top of her, and now she leaned back into his touch, making small sounds of pleasure that were hitting him like explosions.

When she pressed back against him as close as she could get, his hands slid down the front of her shoulders like swimmers going off the high dive. They dove tailed perfectly between the valley of her breasts, taking the channel there with infinite grace and perfect slowness, headed to the flat expansion of her stomach, where they paired off side by side and continued to rub her skin in tandem, fluttering in time with her heartbeat.

He buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply, taking in her faint scent like a human might do to a fresh baked apple pie. He wanted to ask her why her scent wasn't stronger, he had been wondering since he had arrived in Tulsa. He had expected to be tortured by the smell of her and as a result to be revealed as the monster that lurked underneath, but like so many other fears, this one had not manifested. _Later,_ he promised himself. _Later I will ask her._

Slowly, he moved their bodies forward so that they hot water could wash the suds away, and as the water cascaded over her and on to him, he slid inside her and began to pump slowly in and out enjoying the matching sensations of the pounding water on their skin to his movements inside her. She let him continue for a few moments, making soft sounds of pleasure as he touched her inside with the same delicate consuming reverence that he had used on the outside of her, before dislodging him when she turned to face him.

She had heard every thought, every revelation, every intention as he worshipped her, and she wanted to repay in kind. She began to speak as she added gel to the scrubby and turned them so that he was facing the water and she was behind him. Kneeling, she began with this feet.

"These feet have walked a million miles to get to me. They show scars and are formed not only to hold you high, but to carry you forward into all the things that await you in this world. I want to kiss these feet, and rub the weariness of miles and time from them. I love that they have lead you to this time and place with me." Slowly then she moved to his legs rubbing in slow sensuous soapy circles with scrubby and her hand so that should cover them both at the same time. After a few moments she switched hands with the scrubby and spoke in hushed tones that one would use in a holy place.

"There is much we have to learn of one another and I don't know how you feel or what you think of your transformation to vampire, but I will tell you now I am most grateful for that, of all things. The cost was immeasurable, I recognize that, but despite my best efforts I can't figure out any other way that would have brought us here like this. Humans are here but for a moment, and if not for this change, your moment would have blazed and passed before I was even born." He groaned then and titled forward placing has palms on the wall before him to remain standing. The combination of her touch and words were slowly unzipping him. She moved up then to his massive thighs, formed from endless hours and days of training and fighting. He had been made at the peak of his physical form and had retained that gift through all of time. She dropped the scrubby and opened her hands wide as she slid her hands over those rock hard muscles, awed as they trembled beneath her light caress.

"And these thighs would make Michelangelo weep. I wonder if you were truly the inspiration for David himself. Did you take him as a lover and show him what wonders they could perform? Did you teach him the true form of perfection and let him immortalize you in stone for the world to see? He definitely had some depth perception issues when it came to some parts. " She wasn't asking, only sharing her inner dialog with him, evening the playing field between them since he was denied access to her thoughts of adoration. Her hands moved up then to cup his bottom. He heard the smile in her voice and felt the deep aching pleasure in her as she cupped him just as he had done her.

"And this, oh, this! I hear humans sometimes claim that certain things inspire or confirm their belief in a higher power. They would no longer doubt if they could behold this wonder that is before me. It is the barest glimpse of Heaven and it is the fiery road to Hell. You inspire me to believe in a higher power." She leaned in closer then and placed a soft kiss on each cheek of his bottom. Her reverence evident for a moment before she giggled, "Now, if anyone is ever fool enough to doubt your prowess as a man, warrior or vampire you can tell them that you have the Queen of Oklahoma kissing your ass."

Her quicksilver turns of desire and amusement swept through him, and he shuddered moaning as he tried to process her words and moods. It was overwhelming, suffocating, marvelous and wonderful. He would die if she went on. He would die if she stopped. This is Hell, he thought, and right behind it, this is Heaven. She was all those things, and every passing moment left him more lost between the two, burning as he was saved.

_Oh, let me never be found! Let me never be taken from this place!_

The wall of the shower creaked under the pressure from his hands.

She moved up then, caught in her own spell and as she traced the ridges of his spine with her fingers she followed as far as she could with her kisses. When her hands reached his shoulders, she was leaning against his back, pressed fully against him, allowing him to hold her weight as well as his so that she could get just a little closer. She lingered a moment there before sliding around him to place her hands palm open on his chest. It was the closest she could get to mimicking his moves from earlier, his great height denying her the ability to stand behind him and slide her hands though the trenches and valleys of muscle that was Eric.

When she stood up in front of his still leaning form his lips were almost in line with hers, and she saw that his eyes were closed. "Look at me." His eyes snapped open showing her the face of a vampire completely unzipped, all his pieces having fallen out. She saw fear, and excitement loose on the floor of his eyes. She saw passion and desire. She saw the man she had told him he was he night before, and that she had told the children about tonight. "I see it all. I understand it all. I accept it all," she swore as she looked at that man with kindness, adoration and admiration. "You never have to hide from me, Eric. Show me anything, everything. Tell me anything, everything and know that I accept it all."

He felt the pure truth of her words and marveled at the acceptance of this woman before him. She was not mouthing empty words. She would take him good and bad and hold him in her hands as she had just proven and meet him on equal ground giving as good as she got. It was too much. She had kicked too many emotions loose that had been held down for too long. His final strings of control snapped and he went to his version of a "go to move". _I am a monster. It's all I am now. I will show her that doesn't know what she is talking about! He moved then lightening quick and pressed her to the wall his long fangs coming down to show her what he was. Now, she will realize her mistake. Now she will see my true face and run. Run, Sookie, gods please run before I hurt you!_

Still looking in his eyes, her acceptance and admiration never wavering she reached up slowly and caressed his fangs with her finger. Gently, as though she might break these razor weapons with her touch. The fierceness faded from his gaze as she held her ground without blinking. "Children are afraid of being hurt, Eric. They protect themselves and run away from things that might cause pain. I have lived long enough to know that anything worth having usually hurts like a motherfucker. I don't run from that, I run toward it and think only of the worth of having it. You might hurt me, but I know it would be more than worth it to see where this goes."

She placed her hands on his shoulder then and pulled herself up, wrapping her legs around his middle reaching down to guide him home inside her.

"Now shut up and fuck me like you mean it, Viking. We have some dragons to slay."

_Fuck, this really is the best job in the world,_ he thought, and then he got to work.

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That job line is a little wink to LostinSpace33, who pointed out that he was one lucky Viking to find a job with so many perks. :) if you have some time check out her story _Les Bon Temps Rouler_. It is a great story and for anyone who has ever had a long distance relationship you will see that she hits the tone of angst and longing like a pro!


	8. Ballroom Blitz: Part 1

**The Big Bang- Ballroom Blitz: Part 1**

Sookie's dress for the evening conjured images from their riding the storm the previous evening. It was strapless, and to the floor in shades of midnight blue, violet and gray melded together perfectly. If her eyes light up tonight she will appear the storm incarnate, he thought as he admired her. Unconsciously, he inhaled and felt comforted that she smelled like him not admitting to himself that this was driven from a place of wanting no other to touch her. Such a thing would be ridiculous, she was the Queen of Oklahoma, and he had no say so on who or what she did.

_Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you will believe it eventually._

She sat down on the sofa, throwing her previously discarded sweater to the floor and motioned for him to come sit beside her. "You have questions. Let's start there, time is short and we have much to cover before we go down."

"Why am I not overwhelmed with your fairy scent?" She smiled.

"My magic is protecting you from that."

"Protecting me? Don't you mean protecting you?"

"No, I mean what I say. I know that you have no control over your responses so I warded the house, which protected John and Preston tonight. I have the ability to mask my own scent, it is a trait inherent in my family." She stopped here and reached for her purse. "However, there will be fairies here tonight and I can't ward the hotel. So, take this." She pulled a large gold ring from her purse. In the center of it was a large sapphire that seemed to catch the light in an odd way. "This ring will protect you from being overwhelmed, while still allowing you to use your senses to detect fairies. All others will smell as they normally do." He took it from her and looked at it oddly. It was a very large ring, clearly made for a man and he wondered who it had belonged to before. "I had it made for you, Eric." He slipped it onto his index finger on his right hand and admired the perfect fit and the way the stone seemed to dance in the light.

"We will have to start getting you used to fairy scent gradually. My magic might fail when I am…when it weakens and I don't want you at risk with nothing to fall back on." _ She doesn't want me at risk? _ She made a face and he felt a flash of anger though their tie.

"That leads me to the next thing we need to discuss. Clearly there is some confusion over your place in this new world." It wasn't a question, she heard his inner dialog of doubt and uncertainty like a voice in her own mind now. "You are my lover, my protector and my friend. Do you understand?"

"No. Explain."

"I introduced you the Captain of my Guard tonight and told him that he was to take your requests as he took mine. Did that not make it clear?"

"No," he answered again, needing her to say it clearly so that there would be no confusion.

"You are, in addition to those other things I just named, my Royal Consort." He blinked.

"What are the rest of the Fae going to say about that?"

"Who gives a fuck? Oklahoma is mine. You are mine. I trust you. They can fuck off." He felt his pride swell at her claim.

"Does that mean that you are mine?" he asked barely above a whisper.

"Will you have me, Eric?" He moved to her and kissed her to convey his answer. From the breathless reaction to that kiss she knew his answer was yes. "G-good," she stuttered, quite unlike her usual confident self, as she recovered from his answer.

"What does a Royal Consort do in the Royal Court, my Queen?"

"Pretty much whatever he damn well pleases. I would have introduced you as such to Preston tonight if we had already spoken of the matter. I didn't want to presume." He laughed now, unable to contain it when faced with the ridiculousness of her statement.

"You didn't want to presume. Right. Did Appius know you wanted me to be your Consort?" She smiled a bitter smile then.

"You already know the answer to that. He never would have let you come if he had known there was anything other than pain waiting for you're here, let alone send you himself."

"So, what did you tell him to get him to send me?"

"I told him that I was addicted to vampire blood, and I wanted to keep you like a fine vintage, wrapped in silver so that I could drink my fill every night." Eric's eyebrows went up.

"He should have been able to tell that there was no blood in you."

"Yes and you should be overwhelmed with fairy scent. I am not some withering little girl afraid to do what needs to be done. I don't know what kind if spineless women you have been saddled with in the past but I am strong enough to do what needs to be done and have no regrets. I am like you." He blinked. Where had he gotten the idea that she was weak? Was it because she was kind and soft with him? Had he let his judgment get so far askew. He remembered who she was as a tactic to keep himself at bay, but now that he understood his role he had placed her on the shelf labeled foolish and weak. How had that happened? Clearly, he needed to get his head out of his ass.

She smiled, and nodded gently in agreement, but was kind enough not to rub it in.

"Ok, bullet points for tonight. This is a charity affair for my company Brigant Industries. Tonight you will meet the executives that lead that company. I will introduce you as my date for the evening. The humans will simply find you handsome, the other supernaturals here will know that you are vampire. I am sure that they will try and have their say about that, and I intend to tell them to fuck off." He smiled now, looking forward to that. "Also," she started sounding less sure, " I expect Mississippi, and Nevada to be here to press their suits. It is imperative that you let me handle them. You are MY Royal Consort, and as such you hold sway in Oklahoma, but not with other Royalty." She reached for his hand then and laced her fingers with his.

"Don't get me wrong, I would go to war for you, in a heartbeat. I would burn this fucking hotel to a cinder and roll in their ashes with glee, but I don't want to if I don't have to. I don't want to pick a fight. You can protect me if it becomes physical, as you are also my protector, but if all they are packing is words and arrogance, let me handle it." She leaned in and kissed him softly then. "I know from stories of you that you can be a bit of reactionary. I can't stress the importance of this enough."

"I am not a child either, Sookie." He sounded a little gruffer than he meant to but he understood. He didn't need to warned like this.

"Of course, I am sorry, Eric. I just worry for your safety. These people can be vicious and they will try and provoke you deliberately."

"I understand, Sookie, really I do." She took a breath to speak again and then changed her mind, nodding.

"Any other questions before we go down?" He hesitated.

"I do have some other things we need to discuss, but it can wait until the dragons are slain," he winked at her.

"Ok, then one last thing. Before we go down, I want you to drink. I suspect that they will try and spell your blood if you partake in their presence, so I don't want you to have anything at the party. In fact, if you don't mind, I would prefer that you always drink exclusively from me." She glanced up to see his reaction before pressing on. "I will keep a supply of donor blood for you in case of emergency but the only source I think we can truly trust is me. Is that ok?"

"That is better than ok, my lover. Your blood is exquisite, even with the magic to dull the taste and the effects. I am honored." Sliding closer and gently guiding his head to her neck, she whispered into his shoulder.

"As am I, Eric."

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All heads turned to them when they entered the ballroom arm in arm. They stopped, heads held high as they stared them down, daring them to give voice to their thoughts. No one did, but Eric felt her rage pass through him and knew that she was hearing what they had to say anyway. He leaned down and whispered in her ear an effort to distract her.

_"And the man at the back said, "Everyone attack"_

_And it turned into a ballroom blitz"_

She burst out into giggles, causing everyone to look at them again. This time they saw her looking up at him adoringly as she volleyed right back.

_"And the girl in the corner said, "Boy, I wanna warn ya"_

_It'll turn into a ballroom blitz_"

He smiled down at her then and all the tension they had been carrying for the evening ahead of them floated away. No matter what happened, they had each other's back. "Care to dance, Majesty?" He led her onto the floor and pulled her close as they swayed to the music.

**Can you hear me, Sookie?**

"Yes."

**There are two other vampires here and busload of fairies. I think I also sense a demon.**

"My lawyer is the last, not sure about the first. That is unexpected."

**Why aren't the attacking? Do they have rings?**

"They have something." She grew quiet then and he knew she was listening. He watched carefully as other couples moved around them and again, looked for strategic exit points. He saw various reactions to them around the room. The humans admired the handsome couple openly, while fairies looked disgusted and angry at seeing her in his arms. Fuck them, he thought, echoing Sookie from earlier as he instinctively pulled her closer to his large frame. "They are gone." He reached out confirming her declaration. He saw the fairy approaching them but before he could warn her he felt her stiffen in his arms telling him she already knew.

"Majesty, may I cut in?" She turned to face the fairy and Eric took the opportunity to look him over from head to toe. Even he had to admit the man was beautiful. Dark hair, dark eyes, a beard, he was the same height as Eric and he could tell that under the thousand dollar tuxedo was a frame that would rival his own. Jealousy rose up in him demanding that he take action and sweep his Queen away rather than let this fairy touch her. Hearing his thoughts , Sookie reached out and placed her hand on Eric's arm, disguising it a casual gesture rather than a calming one.

For the first time she wished he could read her thoughts as well. She was not interested in this fairy, any more than she was any other. There was protocol to consider though, and she had warned him about that before they came down. She loved his wildness, and his untamed animalistic nature, but it would not serve them well here. She suspected that was the point. This was just the first volley of trying and trip them up. Taking a breath, she knew she would have to trust him. He could take care of himself after all.

"Eric, allow me to introduce Alcide Herveaux, The King of Nevada."


	9. Ballroom Blitz: Part 2

_A/N- So, thanks to you all for your feedback and support. One of you was kind enough to point out I screwed up with not crediting Michelangelo with David, and that the Viking would likely find his GP insulted if that were a tribute. I made amends and changed a few lines. Thank you for catching that. I plead that my mind was lost in admiring the image I was conjuring. _

_Another commented that I should add in the description that this was an Eric story, since there were more folks looking for Eric than Sookie, so again I have adjusted._

_I appreciate constructive thoughts very much and I thank you for taking the time and effort to keep me straight and offer advice._

_In addition, I would add that plot may have snuck up and bitten my big toe. I spent about two hours tonight sketching an outline and answering questions that various readers had thrown at me since this started._

_Why did the Fae do the Great Reveal, they could pass as human and have a realm of their own?_

_How can Eric protect her when he is down in the day?_

_How did this change impact other supes?_

_And then Eric hit me with one, inspired in the scene at the orphanage when he saw her surrounded by the children that she obviously adored. Could they ever have a child?_

_Now, there is arc, plot and reason to this little story that started as a way for me to get my mental hands on the Viking in a thunderstorm. :)_

_I don't know everything yet but I know enough to know how we got here. We will see where it goes together. _

_Much love to you all!_

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**The Big Bang- Ballroom Blitz: Part 2**

_Eric, allow me to introduce Alcide Herveaux, The King of Nevada._

Fighting with everything in him Eric stopped his fangs from extending as he bowed slightly to the Monarch before him and ground out a greeting. "Majesty." The King looked Eric up and down, his eyes showing his surprise when he confirmed what his senses had already told him. Vampire. For a moment their gazes locked and Eric felt himself being assessed warrior to warrior. It was curious, most Fae considered Vampire beneath them. The King of Nevada however, clearly was looking to see if he was equal in other ways, man to man, rather than Fae to Vampire. In the split second the interaction lasted, Eric allowed him to see a bit of his true self. The man that Sookie had insisted a short time ago lived at the heart of him. The King's eyes widened a little and then he nodded, a small sign of recognition and respect. Then he flicked his eyes to Oklahoma, raising a brow in question.

Understanding that question was again man to man, Eric met it with a steely gaze and a low growl. Just enough to make his point, not enough to disrupt the détente of the event happening around them. The King held his gaze a moment longer, not backing down, rather showing the same stone face instead.

They were clear in that moment. Both of them cared about her safety. Both of them would place her needs and wants above their differences, should the time come. In that split second, a bond had been formed between them over the Queen of Oklahoma and Eric felt his jealousy both recede and increase. Not only is he pretty, he is also a good man, he thought to himself. Pulling back from that, starting to doubt his place in all this. Sookie squeezed his arm again, lightly, reassuringly. He glanced at her.

"Eric, could you excuse us for a moment?" She felt anxious in the tie, but not worried.

"Of course, Majesty. I will be over here if you need anything." Sookie watched him retreat from the dance floor and then turned back to Alcide, stepping gracefully into his arms.

"Well, I guess you finally did it, huh? That's him then?" he asked softly looking toward the Viking who was now watching them intently from about ten feet away.

"Yes," was all she said.

"And you still think this is the only way?" he pressed.

"Yes."

"You know that-"

"I know," she cut him off.

**We were very good together you and I,** he spoke to her with his thoughts.

"Yes, we were." She smiled at him then remembering all that had passed between them. It had been a century since they had been this close to each other, but even now she remembered that he had loved her intensely during their time together. He had made her happy, but something was missing for her. He as a good a valiant man, and he cared for her unconditionally, but he lacked the kind of wild passion she needed in a partner. For a moment she stopped listening to him and pulled back looking at him. She could not see him making love with her in a thunderstorm with wild abandon. He was too controlled, too regal to indulge in such flights of fancy. Fancy that she found she needed to stay connected to feeling alive.

**We could have it all, Sookie. We could have a family and I would stand beside you in the battle to come. We could pool our resources and be that much stronger together! ** His gaze was filled with passion and for just a moment she wondered if she had misjudged him about that ride through the storm. Internally, she sighed, this was the only way. Not only did this fulfill every desire she had had as a child and a woman she needed Alcide to be where he was.

"I need a second front. If I fall, I need to know you will go on. It's too important to throw everything into a single plan." She looked at him. "I trust you to do this, as I would no one else. I know in my heart that you will."

**You are my heart.**

She leaned up and kissed his cheek softly as the music ended and then took a step back toward her Viking.

**Call upon on me if you have need.**

"Right back atcha," she smiled again, and then let go of his hand leaving him there.

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Eric had listened to the exchange on pins and needles. Despite her keeping it one sided as she had done with him earlier he was able to determine that she had once been the lover of the King of Nevada, and that he still wished it were so. He knew that she considered him ally, and that she trusted him. She trusted him a lot. She also cared for him. That last bit stung in new places that he didn't know he had.

She spoke of battle and falling, so clearly Herveaux knew more than he did about just what the hell was going on.

He also knew that while she felt a great deal of affection for this man, it was not romantic love. At least not on her side.

And finally, that Herveaux was not surprised to see him here, and in fact had been expecting to find him there at her side. The list of questions was growing.

She reached his side then and pulled him down to kiss him passionately, somehow managing to make it gentle and dirty, perfect for public consumption while its effect on him conjured more intimate memories and promises of things to come.

"He is not you," she whispered when she pulled back looking up at him, a hair's breadth from his lips. That told him everything and nothing like most other things she said. He glanced up then and saw that the fairy king had retreated from the dance floor. His vampire instincts demanded that he find the king and drain him. His inner warrior demanded that he strip and fight him to do the death proving that he was a better match for Sookie. The man in him wanted to sweep her away from here now, before more suitors showed up to put their hands on what she had just told him was his. She looked at him with warmth and understanding radiating from her eyes.

"I belonged to you even when I was with him." Those words dropped like stones on the floor of his heart. They were heavier than they should be if she were talking just about the dance they had shared. They were too weighty to mean just that. He opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head. "Later, I promise. We have many nights ahead of us and this is not the place." He nodded of course she was right. He needed to be focused on safety first, and rest could wait. If he lost her due to his own inner turmoil distracting him at a critical moment her answers would hardly matter anymore.

"Come on, I want you to meet my executive team at Brigant." She led him into the crowd and started the introductions.

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Her office staff was mainly human and he found that surprising for some reason. The exceptions were mostly Fae, but he met a Shifter, Luna Garza, her head of PR, and a Were that she introduced as Major Colonel Flood of the USAF, a special consultant to Brigant Enterprises.

"Colonel Flood is working with me on some special projects," she smiled at him warmly and shook his hand as if they were old friends.

"Yes, and I would like to put your mind at ease. They are going well, quite well," he added winking at her and smiling back with the same warmth she projected at him.

"That is good to hear, Colonel. Can you come to the house tomorrow evening and provide additional details?"

"Yes. Eight sound good?"

"Perfect." She was turning around when out of nowhere appeared a fairy who reached out and grabbed her. Eric was in motion instantly, already tensed to spring when he saw him approaching a moment before. He pulled the fairy back, none too gently and placed himself between them.

"Sookie, what the hell?" the male fairy sputtered as he brushed his expensive tuxedo as though Eric had soiled it with his touch. Stepping around him, Sookie addressed this latest visitor with an icy tone.

"Claude, just what do you think you were doing, manhandling me like that?"

"Manh-" he stopped and laughed rolling his eyes for extra drama. "If you think me attempting to embrace you is manhandling I would call into question just what kind of man you have handling you these days." Eric heard the Were Colonel beside him growl, and knew that he had taken stance to defend Sookie as well. The King of Mississippi looked Eric over from head to toe, somehow managing to be lascivious and condescending all at once. "Someone his size should be able to manhandle with the best of them." Sookie rolled her eyes then.

"What do you want, Claude?" Turning back to her, he smiled his best smile, which was quite impressive, he too was a very attractive fairy.

_ Doesn't she know any ugly men?_ Eric wondered petulantly.

"Darling, Sookie. I thought Preston made it clear tonight what I wanted."

"Yes, and I thought that I made it clear that my answer was no."

Not put off in the slightest he took a step forward. "Oh, but you started that denial with a 'yes'. You want me, you know you do. You are just playing hard to get. How adorable."

Eric had reached his limit. "Take another step, and you will see who is playing and who is not." Continuing to look at Sookie, but not moving any closer he spoke to her.

"You should teach your dog better manners than to jump up on the royalty when they come to visit. I could train him for you, if you like. Break him…in."

"You will watch your tone, in Oklahoma, Claude. This is my Protector, and," she continued drawing herself up to stand straight, pride clear in her voice, "my Royal Consort, Eric Northman. Eric, this is Claude Crane, King of Mississippi."

"YOUR WHAT?" Claude had obviously forgotten the public venue they were in. "SERIOUSLY?" She nodded, reaching out to take Eric's hand. "You choose this creature over me? OVER ME?" She didn't answer, feeling that her taking Eric's hand had already adequately conveyed her stance on the matter. Claude was such a fucking drama queen.

Gathering himself, he adjusted his cuffs, and stepped back. "I see. You are just as crazy as everyone said you were. I was willing to take you anyway and overlook your inadequacies." Eric growled now, showing his displeasure at his disrespectful remarks to Sookie. "See, no better than a dog. I could have gotten you one of those to keep you company in my palace. One with better manners."

"One more word, Claude and I am going to have security toss you out on your ass." Her tone was cold and deadly serious. Claude opened his mouth one more time and saw her catch the eye of the nearest security man. He could have killed him in a moment, but The Council frowned on the use of powers in front of the public. Bad for the Fae image, and they had been known to punish with iron shackles and high fines. He closed his mouth, nodded curtly and walked away quickly. He felt Sookie relax beside him but she kept his hand in hers.

"You know the most interesting people, lover," he leaned down and whispered in her ear, squeezing her hand gently.

" Just one of the many, many reasons I need you, lover," she whispered back with a wink. "I'll show you the rest when we get home." _Need, she said need, not want. 'To need a thing is to declare it essential to your very survival.'_

"Exactly," she said acknowledging his remembrance. "Take me home, Eric, please?" He was moving them to the door before the 's' in her plea had left her lips. He was done with being blitzed in the ballroom as much as she was.


	10. The Great Reveal

**The Big Bang- The Great Reveal**

The ride home had been silent. She leaned against his shoulder as she had on the way to the hotel and laced their hands together, both seeking and giving comfort for the battles waged this evening. It was near one in the morning when the car pulled up out front and they entered her home.

"Our home," she corrected his wandering thoughts, not breaking stride as she climbed the stairs already abandoning shoes on the way. He was starting to feel like Hansel, only instead of breadcrumbs it was clothing that led him toward home. By the time she got to the top of the stairs she was naked, dress and underclothes abandoned and draped on various furniture and statuary in the hall.

For some reason, her disregard for clothing and where she left it amused him.

"Haaansel," she called from her bedroom in a sing song voice. "Oh, Haaansel." He chuckled softly and hurried to her side. She was in her closet pulling on a loose robe when he arrived, her hair was down again, she had repaired it with magic after their shower at the hotel, and since it looked wild and perfect now like it had the other night in the storm he assumed she had used the same technique again.

"Come, sit with me." She had a large sofa in her room, and she plopped there, waving her hand and conjuring a glass of merlot, from which she took a deep drink before setting it down and looking at him. "Too many clothes, like always," she grumbled as she waved her hand in his direction and he found himself dressed in silk pajama bottoms with a matching robe, which was left open. "Eye candy," she winked, flashing her devilish grin at him again. "Sit," she said again, motioning him to join her. He sat and immediately she reached down and pulled his naked feet into her lap. "I made a promise to these guys earlier tonight and I mean to keep it now." She began massaging his feet, working deep into the muscles. It felt unbelievably good, better than it should have since the blood prevented human ailments like tired feet and aching muscles.

It was then he noticed that her hands were glowing. _Magic massages_, he thought to himself. "Best kind," she smiled at him. "Now, let's do this right. Tell me what you know of the Great Reveal."

Eric had about a thousand questions pressing the back of his lips demanding to spoken, and none of them were about the Fae coming out.

"I know, I know," she said, digging deep into his heel, and giving a little extra magical oomph to her efforts. "Trust me, this will take us to all those things you need to ask." Nodding, he began to speak.

"About twenty years ago rumors started to spread through the vampire community that the Fae were thinking of revealing their existence to the world. At first they were dismissed by my kind as absurdity. We could find no reason that you would take such a risk believable. You could pass as human with little to no effort. Also, you had your own realm and were not trapped to share this one as some supernaturals are forced to do.

"As time passed the rumors became more insistent and about a decade ago at a Vampire summit it was announced by The Council that you would indeed be going public. Immediately, Vampires started to plan their own outing as well, and those plans are still in motion. They are waiting to see how this goes before they go public."

"And how is this going, Eric?" she asked as she rubbed his feet, pausing to get a drink of wine.

"In the six years since your kind came forth to the world, declaring that you were here to assist mankind with saving the planet from self-destruction it has been a mixed bag." She chuckled.

"I appreciate your flair for understatement, Hansel." Feeling her humor in the bond he went on.

"You presented yourselves as Guardians of Old, who had returned here to help mankind "Go Green". You indicated that you had access to advancements in fuel, medicine and in growing crops that would do what up to then had seemed impossible. You could maintain society throughout the world and live in harmony with the Earth itself. You asked forgiveness for leaving mankind so long alone and promised that this new era would restore balance to Mother Nature itself."

She drained her glass then, and conjured another. "Go on," she urged, still rubbing his feet in between sips. Her touch was welcome and distracting at the same time.

"The public embraced you on the surface. The masses were lost, disillusioned in their own leaders and their inability to bring about the true change that everyone seemed to call for and no one knew how to make happen. You established yourselves in governments around the world, demanding representation for taxation, as it were. You formed groups to save the oceans, the forests and endangered species. You funded campaigns for like-minded humans and for a while it seemed as though things might truly change for the better." She chuckled mirthlessly then. "Things took a turn one of the human splinter groups known as The Iron Fist captured a Fae and tortured him into revealing the face that you all keep concealed. Your true visage is quite something to behold and very different from the near angelic beings you had presented yourselves to be."

"Do you find pointy ears and teeth attractive, Eric?" She asked him then trying to play it as a joke but not quite managing it. This answer was very important to her. He could feel it in the tie they shared.

"I find bravery, and honor more attractive than anything, Sookie. Physical forms change over time, and rarely if ever do they manage to show the soul and worth of the individual encased inside. I like the form you show me, but I am attracted more to the woman you show me. The wild woman who takes risks to get what she wants. The woman who will drop a man to his knees if he spouts off to her. The woman who shows compassion to those less fortunate. The woman who will rub a tired old vampires feet, and kisses his ass occasionally." She laughed again, meaning it this time.

"I didn't mean for your to use that line on me."

"Then don't make me. You can hear my thoughts. You know what I think of you. You accepted me, completely. How could I do any less for you, my friend? My lover. My Sookie." Her eyes fluttered shut at his words. He always knew the perfect fucking thing to say.

"I wish I had something besides our foot in my hands right now."

"Me, too, but I have been answering your questions. You have not been answering mine. I have things I want to know, woman, and you will not distract me." The corner of his mouth came up in an almost smile at the last. She nodded in agreement and he felt her push her desire back down a notch or two making more conversation possible. _ That would likely not have been possible if we were bonded._ Inside he froze a moment._ Who said anything about bonding? Not the time. Not the time. Focus._

"So, where was I?" he asked, before continuing. "Right, The Iron Fist. I always thought their motto was ridiculous by the way. 'A Closed Fist Won't Clap'. Pam had to explain it to me the first time I heard it.

"Tinkerbell," she whispered then, looking down a moment.

"Right, 'clap if you want Tinkerbell to live.' Their ranks have been gaining membership since that video came out two years after the Reveal. On the surface everything seems fine, but The Iron Fist is hunting your kind, killing them. All the while working to discredit your claims of being here to help despite all your accomplishments. The world governments have disavowed The Iron Fist splinter cells and track them as terrorist groups but they hang on and grow. As they do, so does doubt that any other supernatural group will come forth. We see the same outcome for us as well. The humans weren't ready."

"They weren't the only ones," she stated ominously, conjuring another glass of wine.

"When the Fae began to talk of revealing themselves I was so excited. I had been in this realm for centuries at that point and saw much good here in this world and its people. I had such high hopes that we could, together with the humans and other supernatural races, build a world that we could share in peace and harmony. We were all here, either born here, or allowed access to this place because together we create the kind of harmony that we all need. Well, we could anyway. It sounds naive, I know, but I truly believe in the best in people and I believe that given a chance that best will outshine anything else. I still believe that.

"I tried to stop the Reveal." Eric was very surprised given what she had just said about believing in the best of people. "I learned well before the Reveal that the true reason for it was not to help, but rather to seize power. The changes in this world, were affecting the Fae realm. Like," she paused looking for the right words, "Like a landfill can poison a water supply. My people who lived closest to the line that separated our dimensions grew sick and started to die. It was determined that the realms were linked and that if we were to survive then we needed to take control of this one and make changes for the safety of all. "

She looked at him then the pain in her eyes matching the pain he felt in their tie.

"What we had never managed on our own, a true unification of all Fae, Sky, Earth, Water and Fire came into being to focus on our common enemy, mankind." She stopped there then, taking another sip of wine, before changing her mind and downing the glass. He could feel that she was intoxicated and was relieved when she did not conjure another. Her revelation had floored him. His mind began to race trying to play out all the scenarios that now proposed themselves as possibilities. She went on, "And while clans united for the first time, they also splintered and two groups were formed of all the clans. Those who supported the true agenda for the Reveal, the Ciar, and the one who opposed it, the Albho."

"The Dark and the Light," Eric translated the ancient Celtic names. She nodded, rubbing his feet now absently, her gaze cloudy with distance as she remembered the struggle to stop the Reveal.

"Obviously, the Reveal happened. We couldn't stop it, and since then the two factions have been building to war where the fate of us all will be decided."

_I need a second front. If I fall, I need to know that you will go on._

"Where do you fit into this, Sookie?" She looked at him then, a thousand terrible things showing in her eyes. Things she had done, things she would do, and for once there was no smile.

"I am the leader of the Albho. I am the leader of The Light."


	11. The Gift

_"Where do you fit into this, Sookie?" She looked at him then, a thousand terrible things showing in her eyes. Things she had done, things she would do, and for once there was no smile._

_"I am the leader of the Albho. I am the leader of The Light."_

**The Big Bang- The Gift**

Silence thundered in the room after her own reveal. If he had been a breather he would have gasped because he surely didn't see this coming. He was Vampire though, and in that silence his mind began reformulating all the plans he had been putting together a moment before. Now the things she had half said since his arrival in Tulsa formed into full statements that echoed in the halls of his mind.

_I am much sought after for…many reasons._

_For many days I will be weak and unable to protect myself…_

_I am brave, and strong, but I need someone I can put my back against when things get crazy._

_I have enemies, and suitors, and usurpers, but no friends. No one I can count on but myself._

_I need a strategist, someone to take me beyond the moment and into what will likely pass. I need time to prepare._

_There could be spies in my house that have learned to circumnavigate my go to move._

_Because no fairy can be trusted._

"You are not sure your staff is loyal to you and The Albho?" he broke the silence and saw a fleeting look of relief in her eyes. In the tie he could feel her anxiety ratchet down a notch or two. Had she thought he would leave now that she had revealed this? "That is why, 'no fairy can be trusted.'" She nodded. "But you trust Nevada?" _ Did I just sound jealous?_

"Yes, we have history that precedes the Great Reveal. I know where he stands without doubt." He wanted to pursue that, find out what happened but now was not the time. Pushing that back he focused on the situation at hand.

"There is more, please continue, Sookie." She rubbed his foot again, caressed the top of it and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his toes.

"As with any battle direct or indirect, each side seeks to implement its own agenda to maximum effect. It was no accident that The Iron Fist got their hands on a Fae and knew exactly how to use lemons and iron to force the change. We had been too successful in changing the direction of the tide. If The Ciar had not found a way to polarize the fear and hatred in the humans against us it was possible that The Albho could have won more Fae over to their own agenda of peace and change through that peace between all.

"Once the humans began to openly attack us The Ciar used that to justify their methods in claiming this realm and wiping out the human species completely. Of course," she hesitated here, "that would lead to the elimination of Vampire, Were, Shifter and any other who were not Fae. The others would be caught up in the broad nets of diabolical planning and the Vampire would lose their food source."

Eric's fangs snapped down in response to this unseen and here to fore unknown threat to his existence. How could we not have known?

"The Council knows of the factions and their plans but has held back on sharing this knowledge because it would likely lead to further destruction. They still hope that an opportunity will present itself to spin this thing around. Unleashing all supernaturals against the Fae would still lead to the destruction of a race, and in their eyes, one is no more acceptable than the other. They do not see a way to change the course of this battle, only to bring it about sooner." His mind racing again, pieces falling into place he looked at her again.

"What is their plan?"

"Phase one is Z-Pop, zero population growth through the introduction of chemicals into the worlds water supply that will lead to sterility in a generation or two. Phase two is to accelerate the natural illnesses that inflict humans, cancer, AIDS, diabetes, heart disease and speed up their demise through the very medications they take for these ailments." She stopped then, her hands clenching as she struggled to go on. "We are not strong enough in numbers to fight them one on one so the Fae resort to buying pharmaceutical companies and bringing about the down fall of an entire species like the sneaking cowards they are! And if the other races found out what the true agenda was, they would turn on the Fae and then on the humans, and finally on each other.

"I truly believe this world cannot survive unless we can find a way to co-exist together. It is so plain to me everywhere I look. The blood in your veins will heal wounds and diseases for many races. The blood in mine is filled with antibodies that could help us all to live longer healthier lives. Human blood will heal your injuries. Were and Shifters are at one with all of nature's forms, the ability to literally walk in another beings shoes and the wisdom to change things for the better!

"We are meant to be symbiotic, but our greed and hatred make us all nothing but parasites, first to each other, and then to the world that holds us all!" Tears were running down her face now, lost in rage at the senselessness of it all and feeling helpless to change any of it. Her despair washed over him in driving waves and he felt himself respond in kind as he imagined the world the Ciar would create and then saw the one that Sookie was striving to achieve. Clearly The Ciar had no place for him and his kind in their vision, but that wasn't what made him turn from their ideas in a rage that matched her own.

Instead, when he saw her world, the one that she wanted to bring about he also saw the thin webs that ran between all things, all beings, connecting them to each other, to the world around them. Much damage had been done, the web had great gaping holes in it for ones already fallen, already lost. If The Ciar won there would be no way that the delicate web of creation could stand with so little to support and hold it together. Why could they not see what was so plain to him?

_How did I not see it before?_

She was sobbing uncontrollably now and he moved down to pull her into his arms. Her despair reminded of his own thoughts on the ride to her home from the airport the night before. How he had dreaded coming to Oklahoma and meeting this woman who was now breaking his heart with her pain. How wrong he had been in those moments of his own despair. He saw now the battle they had before them, and being above all a pragmatic kind of vampire he knew that their chances of success were only slightly higher than their chances of survival. It was not despair that filled him this time though. The Queen in his arms had shown him that there was always hope, and that sometimes no matter how smart you were, and how well you planned, things did not go the way you thought they would. And that wasn't always a bad thing.

He rocked her gently as he thought about how he might help with the battle to come. There were some he could call upon and trust with this information. Allies that he could add to her arsenal who would be willing to fight once they had determined a course of action. Shadow games were a vampire specialty after all. Of course, the Fae had the advantage of being able to operate in the open and out in the daylight. _ Daylight. How can I protect her in the daylight? How can I be useful when death takes me away each time the sun rises on her world? I will find a way,_ he vowed silently then and there. He would do what he could. He was not weak, he would be the warrior she needed. He would protect her. Realization dawned then. Her impending time of mating would leave her vulnerable, the perfect time for The Ciar to take her. It was about more than an offspring, though that would be part of it as well. Something to threaten her with, some way to prevent her from fulfilling her destiny with The Albho.

He had seen her with those children tonight and knew in his heart that never had there been a mother that would compare to Sookie when it came to protecting her child. Something stabbed his undead heart then, cutting into his ancient flesh and burning him. He could see her in his mind, laughing and playing in the sun with a beautiful blond child. Her little pointy ears peeking out between her sunlight colored tresses. She would never have that if she failed and The Ciar won. _She will never have that with me. _ The burning increased and his chest felt like it was going to explode. Round and round his thoughts went, chasing themselves with pain and rage that he could never be part of the scene he found himself imagining.

After a few moments of self-indulgence, he pushed that image back, locking it down in his mind. _What matters is that she can have that. What matters is that I will do everything I can to see that she does._

Kissing the top of her head, he whispered, "My Queen, a woman's tears are something I have never been fond of, please stop now. You are not alone in this any longer. I am here now." She nodded against his chest, taking a deep breath to calm herself, wiping her tears before sitting up.

"You're right, this is pointless. I regret letting you see me fall apart like this. I'm sorry." Eric rushed to reassure her.

"You misunderstand, there is time for weeping, and surely this occasion warrants it more than most. I am not put off by your tears. They are a part of the passion that rules you. The passion that I admired greatly before this night, and even more so now." He leaned in and kissed her tear stained cheeks gently before pulling back to look into her eyes showing her the sincerity of his words. "That's what friends do, they cry together, they laugh together, they depend on each other without shame and regret."

She sniffed and a small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "How do you always know the perfect fucking thing to say to me?" He shrugged a shoulder casually.

"It's a gift." She laughed then, and hugged him tightly to her, raising up to rest the top of her head on his broad solid shoulder. His large comforting hand came up to cup the back of her head and he turned his head into her neck before whispering, "Don't give up, Sookie. Not for a minute, not for a second. Just yesterday I felt like I had lost everything and nearly lost myself to despair at the thought of coming here, of meeting you."

"And now?" she asked, still resting on his shoulder.

"Now I am grateful that I am not as smart as I always thought I was. I was meant to be here now, at your side in this. If I had known how this could go I wouldn't have chosen to be anywhere else. I am very grateful that all my planning and plotting led to naught but me on your doorstep last night and you here in my arms tonight." She hugged him tighter for a moment.

"You're the gift, Eric. Everything else that comes with you is just a bonus."


	12. The Man Behind the Curtain

**The Big Bang- The Man Behind the Curtain**

Eric picked her up and carried her into his light tight chamber. Dawn would be here in a couple of hours and he didn't want to leave her until she was ready to be without him. She could even stay here today if she wanted. P_ut it down, walk away he told himself when confronted with another errant thought like sharing his sleeping chamber with her. She had the combination, she could come in whenever she wanted. Offering to share this space with her means nothing._

_Keep telling yourself that._

He laid her down on the bed and curled up around her, pulling her against him. He covered her with his body, an arm across her middle, a leg over hers, demonstrating wordlessly his desire to protect and shield her. "How did you discover the truth of Reveal, Sookie?" he whispered into her neck Her hands came to rest over his in her middle and she snuggled back closer into him telling him wordlessly that this was not a happy memory for her.

"Tell me what you know of my family, Eric." Again, she was asking him to start the story.

"You are a member of the Royal Family of Sky Fae. You father was Fintan, son of Niall and your mother was Adara of the Royal Family of Earth Fae. She was killed in the Fae War between the Sky and Water clans when you were very young. Fintan was often called away to fight, eventually dying in battle and you were raised in the home of your Grandfather Niall and your Grandmother Morgana, heir apparent to the Sky throne. You were always destined to be a Queen, from the moment you were born. Oklahoma must seem small in comparison."

"Perhaps it should, but when I left the Fae realm to come here I was already two hundred years old. It was supposed to be a visit but, I felt more at home here than I ever had at the Palace of Aeon. I knew the moment I picked my first flower, and ran through my first field in the bright yellow sun that this was where I was supposed to be." Eric's vision from earlier returned and he allowed himself a bitter sweet smile since she her back was to him. The pain also returned, lancing into his chest before he pushed it away to focus on what she was saying. "My Grandfather insisted that I return to Aeon but I argued and eventually he surrendered allowing me to return to stay. Morgana had a lot to do with that, I think. She and Pythia had told me stories of this realm and its beings almost from the day I had been born. I could not help but want to be here."

"Pythia?!" Eric's tone caused her to turn toward him.

"Yes, she is my God-mother. My Grandmother Morgana's closest friend. They have been part of The Council and have for as long as I can remember."

"Your God-mother is The Ancient Pythoness?" The shocks just kept coming tonight. She nodded.

"It is a closely guarded secret that she travels to Fae, and that there is such a bond between them. Few know beyond immediate family and The Council members themselves." Eric turned that over in his mind.

"I can see why that is not something just anyone should know."

"The Council in its infinite wisdom for all supernatural races have always tried to act toward each other in the way that they would have us all be. They are the guardians for us all, and as such need to have a deeper understanding of truths inherent to each race. They all travel among the realms and areas to know each other's hearts and ways. How else could they stand in judgment of transgressions among our kind? "

Eric shook his head, reeling from this latest revelation, while at the same time he saw the flawless logic behind it. "The Council has always been something to avoid, or to accept if they entered into my existence because their rule is absolute. From my perspective, if you were doing something that drew their attention, you had better not be doing it when their Emissaries arrived looking for you."

"But you were a Sheriff in Louisiana, weren't you? That is a position of some political clout among your kind I thought?" He nodded, running his hand through his hair abstractedly.

"Yes, but I reported to the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, and she interacted with The Council. Rarely, if ever did anything happen at my level that required their auspicious presence. I have met some of them before when I was an enforcer in Europe in the eighteenth century after Appius released me, but never in a formal sitting. Even then I reported to the King or Queen who had hired me in their areas. Sometimes they were traveling through the area I was working in and they would stop to visit with my regent for an evening or two. I met Pythia once in the court of Ethan, the Vampire King of England." He stopped speaking as memories of that evening filled his mind.

Ethan had motioned him forth at Court and introduced him to the oldest vampire he had ever seen. He had bowed deeply, and wondered what she was doing there in the court of his king and what it might mean to him. She had stared at him with her blind eyes and then smiled. It had chilled him to the bone. It felt like she could see through every mask he had ever manufactured to protect himself over the last eight hundred years. Not being able to flee, despite wanting to and feeling that he should he stood his ground and stared back, waiting. When she finally spoke it had startled him almost as much as her words.

"Go west. Don't stop until you find your sun."

She had offered no further explanation and he had been shocked at her suggestion that he would meet the sun. He had not survived Appius to fall victim to suicide. Over the years he had thought of her message many times, wondering at its meaning and promising himself each time that at least this once the AP would be wrong. He would not surrender to the sun.

"What did she say when you met her," Sookie asked softly, bringing him back from his memories.

"What does she ever say? Half-truths veiled in mystery designed to drive her victims insane." His frustration was still there even after all these centuries.

"But what did she say?" Sookie persisted.

"Go west. Don't stop until you find your sun." Sookie smiled.

"Bet a big strong stubborn enforcer like you loved that!" He looked down at her now, and felt her amusement through their tie.

"Yes, it was, as the humans say, 'the best time ever.'" She rubbed his hand and kissed his lips softly.

"So, Niall, Morgana, and Pythia all had a hand in bringing me up."

"That explains a lot!" Eric whispered, pulling her closer and kissing her neck softly to show he was teasing. She laughed softly.

"Perhaps it does. I made a life for myself here in this world for centuries. Like you I saw the terrible and the beautiful in their wars and their arts. In their humanity and in their monstrous natures that bubble just below the surface in some. I saw the Industrial Age dawn and bring technological advances at stunning rates. I saw it all here alone, and I was shattered and reborn with each advancement and each change. They may have brought me up, but the woman I am was formed here, in the dirt and the ashes of this world rising up.

Sometimes they would come and visit me. Pythia was on her way to see me in Florence when she stopped off in England. When she arrived she mentioned that she had made the acquaintance of The Viking. I nearly lost my mind begging her for details about you. What were you like? Were you as brave and strong as she had always told me? Were you handsome and wily like the tales they had spun for me when I was a babe? She finally threatened to leave early if I didn't let her be on the matter." He raised up in the bed then and pulled her all the way around to face him.

"When I asked you why me you said-"

"Bedtime stories," she finished his sentence. "Morgana and Pythia used to tuck me in every night with tales of the Viking Vampire and his life as a human, his life as a vampire." His masks of a thousand years were shattered as he looked at her with new eyes. She had always known of him, and that was why she had sought him out to stand at her side now. It's how she knew just how to trick Appius into delivering what she had wanted since she was a little girl, to meet him. His voice was deep and filled with emotion when he spoke again.

"When I met Nevada you told me-"

"I told you that he was not you, and that I belonged to you even when I was with him. I have always been yours, you just didn't know it until now." A million questions bubbled up in his mind and he was literally frozen from the weight of them and the weight of her words.

"Why…why not sooner?" he finally managed to get out.

"Because while I have always wanted you, now I need you." She raised her hands to his face placing one on each side and bringing her nose up to touch his, offering him comfort and silence to process what she had just revealed. After a few moments, she pulled back and took a deep breath. "There is a little more I need to tell you, and dawn is nearly here." She was waiting for him to decide if she should continue. He pulled himself from his reverie and nodded, bracing himself for what might come next.

"Once the Great Reveal had been decided there was a lot that had to be done here in this world. Since I was its longest standing Fae resident I was appointed to lead that effort. It was a very happy and exciting time for me and I was lost in the joy of anticipating what we might be able to do to help once we made our presence known in this world. It became standard that Niall would visit me every few days to check in and see how things were progressing.

"Spending time like that with him again after so long on my own was a joy in itself. He had been my father for as long as I could remember and to have him here in this world, working with me to help bring about positive change for every being was almost more than I could stand. It was like a dream. It was a dream.

"It was on one of his visits that he let his guard drop and I learned through my telepathy the true reason for the Great Reveal, and that Niall Brigant, my grandfather, my father was the leader of what would become The Ciar."


	13. The First Dawn

_"It was on one of his visits that he let his guard drop and I learned through my telepathy the true reason for the Great Reveal, and that Niall Brigant, my grandfather, my father was the leader of what would become The Ciar."_

**The Big Bang- The First Dawn**

"That must have been difficult for you."

_Brilliant, Northman. She just told you she was going to have to kill the only father she has ever known to end this war and that's the best you got?_

"I think I mentioned earlier how much I admired your talent for understatement?" She smiled sadly, stopping there, both knowing what was left unsaid and doing so purposefully. He didn't press her. There had been too much tonight already and dawn was nearly here. He didn't want to open more wounds and leave her there to deal with the fallout alone. "I am so very glad that you decided to stay, Eric. I don't think I can ever tell you that enough so that you can truly understand what it means to me to have you here." Her hand ran down his bare chest, soothingly, and evocatively at the same time.

He groaned, "Sookie, there is no time before dawn." She moved suddenly, rising from his bed and standing beside it. She extended her hand to him.

"Do you trust me, Eric?" A complex question from a complex woman. At vampiric speed he ran through all that he had learned in the short time he had been in Oklahoma, all he had done. All they had done. It was almost more than he could contain and still function rationally. _Sometimes you have to let go,_ he heard Pam and her Dear Abby advice. _Abby says that trying to control everything is not healthy. Sometimes you have to let go._

Maybe Dear Abby had some advice on how to save a world?

He placed his hand in hers and rose to stand in front of her. He had removed his robe when he put them in bed earlier and so only had his silk pajama bottoms on. Her robe was untied now and he could see the soft curves of her breasts framed by its edges, and a long creamy expanse of thigh. In a world where everything was right there would be time to love this woman now. To show here that while there was darkness, there was also light and that she was not alone in a way that words would never provide. He spoke then one of the truest words to ever fall from his lips.

"Yes."

Turning she pulled him with her back into her room and out onto her balcony which faced east. He could already feel the sun, and pulled instinctively to return inside. He could fight the sun for moments to avoid death, but he could do nothing about the burns he would suffer if there were no shelter from its burning rays. His survival instinct went into overdrive.

"Come on, trust me," she urged pulling him closer and then down to her lips, kissing him with shattering tenderness. In that moment he forgot the sun. He forgot he war. He forgot the world and let himself just feel her in her kiss, in their tie. It was the most amazing sensation of freedom that he had ever known.

When the kiss ended, she jumped up onto the balcony wall and pulled him to stand between her legs, placing him directly in line with where he most wanted to be. He pressed into her, pulling the robe completely apart and exposing her body to his kisses, her breasts to his touch. _Soft, so soft._ His thumbs caressed her nipples and he felt them swell and harden calling to his lips and he could not deny them, he didn't even want to try. Kissing one and then taking it deep into his mouth he moaned at the taste of her skin, and ground his hips into the core of her again. Sighing in frustration and arousal he felt her remove his pants and reach down to take him in her hand. She pumped him gently, running her thumb over the tip of him making is hips thrust in response to her touch. She placed him at her entrance and then pulled his hips closer sliding him into her while he continued to tease her nipples with his mouth, back and forth between them as though they had a lifetime to do this right, to do this slow.

Their previous joining in the storm and the hotel earlier had been turbulent and passionate. A wild and wicked pounding driven by their uncontrollable need to satisfy themselves with each other. This was so different, slow and tender and when he began to move she gasped her pleasure before pulling him up to her kiss again, her tongue caressing his fangs which had come down as his cock had come up. The two were connected and one was a much a sign of his desire for her as the other. What she did with her tongue was almost as maddening as the way she was squeezing him inside her. He started moving faster in response to her efforts, the sensations ripping away his control.

_Abby says sometimes you have to let go._

Perhaps he had not given Abby enough credit when Pam had droned on and on about her seemingly useless human advice.

Breaking the kiss, she pulled his face to her neck whispering into his hair, "Drink, Eric." He stopped moving and pulled back to look at her, frowning.

"I don't need it."

"Shhh. Come on, trust me," she repeated again.

"But-"

"Please." The look in her eyes undid him. She wanted it so much, he could see it in her face and he could feel it in their tie. Rather than fight he leaned in and licked her neck, and then gently slid his fangs in. She had tasted good before, but this was exquisite! He growled and took another pull at he wound, swallowing a greedy mouthful, losing himself in the taste of her. She moaned and brought her hand up to the back of his head holding him there. Two deep swallows, three and then the taste became less pleasant. Still good, but not so good that he couldn't pull back. He licked her neck again, snagging his tongue to heal her before finally wiping her completely clean of both their blood. He looked in her eyes then.

"I loosened the magic just a little. You must learn to drink and be able to stop without magic."

"You know that is not likely."

"Oh, I don't think you have seen nearly enough of Oklahoma in your time here to make a judgment like that!" She smiled her devilish smile and rocked on him still hard inside her. His eyes rolled back at the feel of her and when she grabbed his hips and pulled him in deeper he decided to listen to Abby.

He pulled her close to him, pressing her breasts to his chest and set about making her forget all the things that brought shadows to her beautiful eyes. The loneliness, the fear, the rage at the betrayal of her kin.

_Abby says sometimes you have to let go._

Her arms came up around him and her heated breath caressed his ear as she moaned his name over and over like a prayer. He wanted her to come completely apart in his arms, and around his flesh inside her so that he could help her start over and build things the way they should be, rather than the way they were. He was so close now, and he could tell that she too was right on the edge. He reached down to help her, caressing her in the perfect spot to send her over the edge. To let go. Her nails dug into his back as she passionately whispered his name one last time, and the pain brought him along right behind her. He threw his head back and roared as he emptied into her, falling into and out of the sensation, losing himself completely to the intensity of what he was feeling physically and emotionally. His thoughts were a disorganized jumble.

_She had always known about me._

_She was always here and I didn't know._

_She was always mine and I didn't know._

_Abby says sometimes you have to let go. _

He buried his face in her neck and moaned at all the time they had lost, all the trials they had yet to face. The crushing near certainty that before this was over one or likely both of them would be dead.

Too much, it was too much.

_Abby says sometimes you have to let go._

She kissed his hair and whispered his name softly. "Eric, look."

"I can't," he mumbled against her shoulder. "I just want to stay here with you, like this, forever." She kissed him again.

"Trust me." Shuddering, he pulled back to look at her and stopped cold.

Over her shoulder he saw the sun had breached the horizon and that for the first time in a thousand years he saw daylight. He should have run, but he was so shocked that his muscles locked long enough for him to register that he was not burning.

He was watching the sunrise and he was not burning. It was beautiful. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

Sookie watched him turn to stone in her arms and held her breath waiting for him to realize he was safe. She knew that he was ok when she saw the blood tears travel slowly down his cheeks. Not wanting to waste a precious drop of him she licked them from his cheeks, feeling him enter her and travel through all the secret pathways inside her. He was like a hit of Red Bull times a thousand, and it felt fucking fantastic to have him inside her, in this way, in all ways.

His shoulders hitched, and he looked at her thunderstruck.

"Go west," he whispered, "Until you find your sun." Sookie nodded smiling gently at him.

"You? Your blood does this?" still in awe.

"Yes." He took another long look at his first dawn and then kissed her reverently, before cupping her face, and pressing his forehead to hers.

"How long?"

"Not sure, I think it depends on how much and how often you drink." He nodded against her forehead. He stood then, and took another long look at the sun. She admired his form in daylight, the long planes of alabaster muscle that were far too white to be human. He was clearly other, and seemed ethereal to her eyes. He moved her to tears and all he was doing was standing there being himself. Being Eric Northman. Being the man that she had dreamed of since she was a small child. Being that man with her. Finally.

He picked her up and took her back to his chamber placing her in his bed and sealing the door.

_World be damned, like Abby says, sometimes you have to let go._

He tucked her in, and himself around her, holding her as he had before, protectively, gently. "Thank you," he whispered into her hair. She giggled.

"You should thank Abby. She's the one who told you to let go."

"Yes," he said pulling her closer, "But you're the one who caught me when I did."

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They talked for hours about the last time he had seen the sun rise before his turning and thousand other small things as lovers do before the pull of the sun started to tug at him, making him feel fuzzy and slow. She was still wide awake despite the drain of the night they had shared. "I rarely sleep, Eric. I don' t need to, unless something is wrong. Then I take rest to heal."

"How did you know that would happen, Sookie? How did you know the sun wouldn't harm me?"

"Pythia."

"The AP told you that Fae blood would make me a day walker?"

"Yes, it was a story that she told me as a child. A great tale of a vampire and his fairy and all the wonders that they might create together. It was favorite of mine. I always asked her to tell it when she put me to bed."

"Gruesome bedtime stories for a child," he observed.

"Not to me, I've always been a little bit of a devil, even when I was small." His eyes were closed but he could hear the smile in her voice, warming him as much as the sun had on the balcony.

"Will you stay here with me today? I want to wake up to you here, like this."

"I will be here when you rise," she answered him kissing his softly.

"But not all day?"

"No, there is much to do and I have meetings and appointments that can't be delayed because I want to spend the day in the arms of my eternal lover." He growled softly, purring with pleasure at her name for him.

"I think you were the sun she meant," he managed to get out before the day took him away. His last thoughts peaceful at finally figuring out what Pythia had meant all those centuries ago. She stroked his forehead, smoothing his hair back and whispered to him though she knew he could not hear.

"Me, too." She stared at him for a long time, with a small sad smile on her face. After a long while, she rose to face her duties and the day that would not wait for her handsome lover to be by her side.


	14. Wither Thou Goest

_A/N- Thank you all for sticking with me through the exposition. Your comments on the Fae plan were interesting and provided much food for thought. I still don't know where we are going, but if you hold my hand and keep reading I am sure we will get there together._

_Blessings to you all._

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**The Big Bang- Wither Thou Goest**

He awoke to soft kisses on his chest and smell of fairy filling the room, overwhelming him.

OH. MY. GODS.

Never in all his days had ever smelled something so fucking incredible. Instinct took over before his logical brain kick in. Fangs down he growled, his arousal swollen and aching. Fuck! Bite! NOWNOWNOWNOWNOWNOW!

He looked down at the creature pinned beneath him as he positioned himself to take what he needed and suddenly careened to a crashing halt. Instantly, he was off the bed and in the corner.

"STOP! PLEASE STOP, SOOKIE! " he was begging her to hide her scent before he did something that he would never be able to live with. He turned his face to the corner and pounded his fists in frustration. His eyes closed he absently felt for his ring she had given him and found it gone. "MY RING!" he shouted still forcing his body to stay as far away from her as possible. "FIND MY RING!" He roared in rage and frustration at not being able to take what he so desperately wanted, what he so desperately needed.

Silence drew out and he heard nothing but her heart beat. She had not moved from the bed. What the hell was going on? Didn't she understand the danger she was in right now? He could feel his traitorous body fighting to get back to her, insisting that he bury himself inside her and fuck and suck until there was nothing left. He wanted to devour all of her. He needed to devour all of her. Rage won out then over hunger and desire and he flew from the corner pinning her to the bed.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING, WOMAN? DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IF YOU DON'T STOP THIS?" He heard Quinn outside his chamber now, with what sounded like the entire fairy squad.

"Majesty? Is everything all right?" he shouted through the sealed door. _No one has the code to get in but she and I,_ Eric thought. She looked into his burning eyes and called back calmly.

"I'm fine, John. Please leave." Quinn mumbled on the other side of the door lingering a moment before exiting with the fairy squad.

"Open the door, Sookie. Leave if you won't stop this. Leave while you can." His teeth were clenched, his fangs tearing at his own lips as he spoke. The taste of his blood only taking him deeper into the bloodlust that she had conjured by simply releasing her scent. _This will never work, I will never be able to keep her safe if the magic fails us. I can't protect her from me. I need to go before I do something that I can't take back._

His thoughts were racing as he hovered over her staring into her eyes, begging her silently to move, to run, to get away from the monster she had unleashed. The look of shock on his face was priceless when she lay back down on the pillow and held her arms open to him.

"YOU. ARE. INSANE!" he screamed at her again.

"Maybe," she answered in a light and cajoling tone like he had just asked her out for evening tea.

"I WILL KILL YOU, SOOKIE, PLEASE. PLEASE STOP THIS." His muscles were shaking now from the strain of holding himself back. She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before shaking her head gently.

"You might kill me, Eric, but if you do it will be because you choose to do so." In shock at her words he sat back. He would never knowingly hurt her. She had to know that. "I do know that, but you don't know that. Here we are, me in all my fairy glory and you are holding yourself back. If you are such a danger to me, how does that work? Are you going to yell at me until you hurt my feelings?"

Frustration directed at her took over from the rage and sat down in the driver's seat. Roaring, he fell back from her and moved to sit on the side of the bed his back to her, staring at the wall blankly, feeling all the emotion drain from his body.

"I never knew you were such a coward, Eric," her sneering tone cutting his flesh like no silver could. He turned to look at her.

"And I never took you for such a reckless little fool, Majesty." His tone was cold, showing her that he had boxed everything up. Eric the vampire was leashed, but the cost had been that Eric the man and Eric the warrior had been taken too. She reclined deeper into the bed, placing her arms behind her head. She was naked, he noticed from his detached perspective, throwing everything she had at him, but he was not new to this game. He had learned from the best how to suppress, how to retreat, how to hide. If Appius never broke him with this cruelty and torture then she had no chance with her intoxicating smell and beautiful body. She was a fool. She was a betrayer!

He had gone to his death today with the taste of her on his tongue, and his long dead heart awakened by the most soul shattering experience he had ever known. Now, to awaken to this, this betrayal where she forced his loss of control, shaming him, putting him in his place, as Appius had once said, was almost more than he could take.

He had been starting to believe he could trust her. Trust her with everything. Perhaps he was the fool in the room. Her cold laugh cut into his self-pity party as she rose from the bed to stand before him.

"Perhaps you are the fool, Eric. What happens if my magic fails? What happens if our enemies set us on one another with no defenses to fall back on but our feeling for each other? What then? I wish I had time to coddle you and show you what is so fucking plain to me in a kinder and gentler way, but I don't. I just fucking don't. I need you to know now. Right fucking now! I need you to know right fucking now that no games anyone can play, no tricks they can pull will lead you losing control with me.

"I NEED YOU TO TRUST YOU AS MUCH AS I DO OR WE HAVE LOST BEFORE WE EVEN FUCKING START!" She was screaming now, but not recklessly as he had claimed earlier. She was all Queen now, standing before him demanding that he rise up to her challenge. Demanding that he see what she saw and know that he could count on it just like she did.

"THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT BETWEEN US! OUR ENEMIES WILL USE IT AGAINST US AND THEY HAVE ENOUGH WEAPONS ALREADY! SO EITHER GET UP OFF THAT FUCKING BED AND KILL ME RIGHT NOW, OR PULL ME DOWN ON THAT BED AND SHOW ME THAT YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND!"

The box he had been hiding in shattered around him and all of it came roaring back. Her smell, his desire, his need. The vampire, the man and the warrior were all out now and howling for satisfaction. He jumped up to face her, staring her down with cold eyes that burned her.

"YOU ASK TOO MUCH! TOO FUCKING MUCH!" he screamed at her.

"I'M NOT ASKING FOR ANYTHING THAT I AM NOT WILLING TO GIVE!" she shouted right back.

"YOU ASK FOR EVERYTHING!"

"I OFFER EVERYTHING!" She was panting now, chest heaving and he was of course as still as stone despite the emotions running riot in his body. He tried to pull back again, reconstruct his box and climb back in. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE RUN AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed and launched herself at him, knocking him back onto the bed with the force of her body. He had been so distracted he didn't realize she was going to do it until it happened. "FUCK ME, KILL ME, KISS ME, BITE ME, BUT..DON'T…YOU…EVER…FUCKING…RUN.. AWAY..FROM…ME!"

Her eyes were glowing now, like they had been when she dropped Quinn in the foyer last night. He glanced down and saw her whole body was glowing. She was magnificent. He had told her that he admired her passion greatly. She had told him that he had a gift for understatement. They had both been right. He had lived for centuries not feeling anything at all. Numb for so long that he didn't even realize it had happened. Now, here she was taking all that away, and with it came wonder and pain and the surprise of finding that he too was passionate about something.

He was passionate about her.

"What do you want from me?" he whispered to her.

"Everything." No doubt, no hesitation. Everything. No more boxes, no more hiding, no more detachment. She would burn in his veins forever and he in hers. Everything.

_Whither thou goest, I will go. _

He had known it this morning. Not because of the blood or the sun or any of the other things that he could hide behind. It was just… Sookie. They might only have tonight, or they might a have a thousand nights. It didn't matter. Wither thou goest, I will go.

He let go.

"Everything," he said and jerked her down to him claiming her lips. He rolled them over on the bed, covering her with his body as he worked her legs open, resting between them as he concentrated on pouring himself into that kiss. So many words, so many feelings and so little time. If they survived there would still never be enough time.

"Never enough," she gasped when he released her lips to breathe. Her legs were up around his hips as she repeated it again, "Never enough." Not wanting to stop kissing her he asked her with his mind.

**Will you drink of me, Sookie?**

"Everything," she gasped again, as he started to move inside her.

**Will you bond with me?**

"E-everything," she screamed as he pounded into her harder and harder, not wanting to slow down. She had pushed him to the breaking point, he would take her there as well.

"Everything," he repeated, moving to tear his wrist open for her to drink. She stopped him. She smiled then and for the first time he saw her sharp fairy teeth, her wicked razor smile, the light in her eyes growing even brighter. She pulled him down to her neck and she buried her face in his. They bit at the same time, triggering orgasms in them both that took them away as they drank greedily of each other each in a delicate ecstasy that caught fire and burned.

Their blood to each other was a boost in power, a revelation in the patterns of existence itself. He could feel her heart beat in his chest, she could feel his ancient blood invigorate her insides, dancing like bubbles through the center of her. Neither ever wanted to stop.

It was Eric who pulled back first. He licked her neck and gently cupped her head, pulling her back from the wound she had made on his neck. "That's enough, lover." She hummed her pleasure as she licked the last traces of him away.

"You taste so good, Eric." he chuckled at her dreaming tone. She was definitely stoned, but so was he. High on fairy, high on the realization that she had been right. He had been able to stop, just like she said. "You really need to learn to trust me, Eric. I know…I know what I am talking about." She tried to sound stern but came off like a kitten despite her best efforts. He wanted to get out of bed and run around the house about a dozen times. That was the effect she had on him. "Me, too." She confirmed the same burst of energy that he was feeling. "But I can't. Flood will be here, soon and then we have to go." She turned into his chest, putting her arm around his neck to pull herself closer.

"What happened today, Sookie?" he whispered into her hair, holding her closer. "Why did you do this tonight?" She sighed.

"There was no easy way to show you that you were worried for nothing. I needed you to know now. I needed you now."

"You needed me?" She nodded, rolling her head back to look up at him.

"Yes, needed. When Flood gets here we are going to meet his pack. He has told them what is happening and they want to meet the leader of the Albho for themselves before they decide to throw in. I needed…I needed you to give me strength for what I will have to do to win them over." She rolled away now and sat on the edge of the bed. He could feel his blood inside her and her emotions through the bond they had just started to form. She felt tired, even with so much of him coursing through her veins. Exhausted in fact.

"Are you well?" he asked, reaching for her.

"Better now, lover," she answered with a small smile to reassure him. "You will come with me, tonight?" she asked. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She felt warmer than usual under his lips.

"Of course, Sookie. Are you sure you are well?" he asked again. She stood and headed for the bathroom in his suite.

"When we return tonight we will speak of who you might call to fight with us." The water was running before Eric realized that she had never masked her scent again. He was covered in Fairy Sookie from head to toe, and the only thing on his mind was worry for her and why she was hiding that she was not well.


	15. In A Strangers House

_A/N- Oh you guys and your wonderful comments! Thank you for the incredible amount of support you are giving this tale. I love that so many of you are telling me that this is new. In a world as well written at the SVMM/True Blood it is the greatest compliment I can think to know that not only are you entertained by my muse but you are also getting to experience something new._

_And special shout out to georgiasuzy who said I had "mad skills," which was the best ever because that line always makes me think of Faith from Buffy in the basement of high school hell before they face The First. Joss said on the commentary (yes ,I am that kind of nerd) that Eliza had said that to him while they were filming and he HAD to work it into the script. So , here I am being Joss Whedon in my own special way. :)_

_Voting is still open for the You Want Blood Awards and for Seph's Writing Challenge. A lot of GREAT stories for both contests so be sure to check them out and rock the vote!_

_Bless you all for your support! :)_

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**The Big Bang- In A Strangers House**

_You don't walk into a stranger's house and tell them how to do things. There is a complicit allowance when you willingly cross their threshold that you accept their ways, do things the way that they do. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes you learn something._

_Sometimes, if you hang in long enough they even ask you to teach them something._

The hot water sluicing her body did nothing to calm her churning thoughts. She had just bonded to Eric. Number two on her bucket list. She wanted to be back in his bed, and back in his arms. She wanted to spend the whole night there and the rest of her nights as well, but that was not what was going to happen tonight. No matter how much she wanted it.

_I am so tired._

She slumped against the wall, letting the water fall over her, letting it all go for just a moment as she remembered his beautiful face as they made love. His eyes shuttered as he felt her with his body and with his soul. The taste of him on her tongue, the feel of him inside her veins. Pythia and Morgana had no idea who the man was they had talked about for so long.

_There was no way they could know how magnificent he was, and he wasn't even trying. He just was that way._

_Strong. Brave. Fierce. Handsome. Funny! _She laughed then, softly_. Oh, makes me feel so fucking alive! I thought I knew what that meant before Eric, and now I know that I know nothing._

_I know nothing._

_I know one thing._

_I know that no matter what happens, no matter what comes. This time with him will see me through to the end…whatever that end might be._

Forcing herself to stand, she resumed bathing, a grim and determined look on her face. She would do what she had to do to save him, to save them all.

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He could feel her, like she was still there beside him. She was tired, and determined. It was her determination that caused him the most concern. _Did she not know that she was no longer alone in this thing? That he was right here, and stronger than ever thanks to her stubbornness._

_Would she let him in?_

_Would she let him help her as a bonded was supposed to do?_

_He wouldn't find out until the time came. _

He wanted to join her, but sensed that she needed this time to prepare for what was to come. Whatever that meant, he would be ready.

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They met Flood in her office when he arrived. She had not spoken since leaving the shower, but she allowed him to hold her a moment before she headed downstairs, allowed him to place a soft kiss on her forehead. She was wrapped in her own thoughts now. Her emotions held tightly down, giving no clue to what was coming. He could sense that she wanted him with her, needed him there. Just there, beside her.

**There is nowhere else I would rather be,** he sent her, hoping she was listening.

"Colonel," she rose to greet him as he entered. John stood in the hallway, having shown Flood in. She nodded to her guard, dismissing him without a word. Eric listened to be sure that he had really left before looking at her and nodding.

"Majesty," Flood said in way of greeting and then looking toward Eric, asking if he could speak freely. She nodded.

"We have found the location of the Ciar headquarters and have had it under surveillance for several days now."

"Show me." He pulled out some photos and passed them to her. Eric moved to her side. She flipped through them. "New York, Texas, California," she named the faces as she flipped through them. "Niall," she muttered through clenched teeth. She hesitated a moment, and Eric felt her anger and pain as clearly as if it were his own. He opened himself trying to take it from her, and thankfully she let him help her shoulder that burden. He was relieved at this first sign that she recognized his place with her now. She moved on, and stopped on a picture of man that she didn't recognize.

"Compton," he ground out beside her. "Vampire." She flicked a gaze at him, questioning what she had heard. His grim look told her that she had heard correctly. She flipped to the next and he hissed beside her. "Lorena, his maker." Flood looked anxious.

"Are you telling me that they have vampires on their side? How can that be? Don't they understand what will happen if the Ciar win?" Sookie shook her head and dropped the photos on the desk.

"Niall is an excellent strategist. He would have told them what they wanted to hear, bribed them with Fae blood and used them as assets. Vampire can be excellent allies." She glanced at hers then and he felt her genuine warmth and affection for him. "But they don't have what we have. None can compare to my bonded." He heard Flood inhale, seeking evidence of the tie that she had just revealed. She had not masked her scent after her shower and he could smell his blood in her. He had no doubt that the Were could as well.

"As none to mine," Eric said to her, his eyes smoldering with passion and pride. He felt her send that back to him and he moved closer to her almost touching but not quite. "Those were likely that vampires we sensed last night," she said, echoing his own thoughts.

Flood cleared his throat drawing their attention back to him. "Bonded?" he questioned. He had not expected that. She spoke often of the races uniting, but this? When she looked at him, he saw in her eyes that they were at the place where the rubber met the road. She had been speaking the truth, and she bore the evidence of that in her veins.

"Is it my honor," she said, and when she looked at the ancient warrior at her side, she saw the same in his eyes. The strength rolling off them made the Colonel's knees weak. They were regal, beautiful and monstrous in their union. He dropped to one knee and bowed before them.

"No. The honor is mine," he told them.

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When Flood left she stood there a moment looking at the place where he had knelt for them moments before. It begins tonight, she thought, and moved to Eric to stand before him. Reaching up to touch his face, she searched his eyes a moment and smiled at him.

"This is going to be hard for you. What you will see tonight must happen and you must stand at my side and not interfere even though it will be the hardest thing you have ever done. Do you understand?"

"What is happening?" he asked pulling her to him, seeking to give and receive comfort in that moment.

"Tonight, we walk into a strangers house, and we do things their way." She stepped back and he saw her dress and heels disappear. In their place now were tight close fitting black clothing. Strapped to her back were two swords that flashed dangerously in the light of her office. Before his eyes, the Queen became the Warrior . When she spoke then her voice echoed in his ears and in his mind.

"You are my lover, my protector, my friend and my bonded. I would have no other. Tonight we fight for allies in this war, to prepare for the battles yet to come. You must remember no matter what you see, or what you feel, you must not interfere. If I am to lead them, they must find me worthy to do so.

"In a strangers house, you do things their way." He nodded and she took his hand, leading him to door of their house where they took to the sky, still holding hands.

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In the night as they flew he looked at her, and was struck by this side of his chameleon girl that he not seen before. She was Death Incarnate, the Morrighan personified. He had never wanted her as much as he did in that moment. Blood lust was pounding in his veins at the thought of what she was about to do and he felt her take that from him as he had taken her pain earlier. She drank it in, and he saw her eyes light up from the inside.

She smiled at him then and he nearly fell from the air to be captured in her wild gaze. She was pulling his soul out of him, along with his blood lust and desire to rip and tear, she drank them and him and he knew now what she meant when she said she needed him. These things were in her already, but he gave them substance. He gave them power.

When they landed in the clearing where the pack was gathered, he wanted to fall to his knees before her as Flood had done earlier.

She looked at him one last time her eyes afire, before she turned to face the pack. Her voice ringing out into the dark and through the trees.

**"I am the doorway through which all beings cross into themselves. Send forth your champion that he may meet himself this night!"**

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The Were respected physical prowess, and would fight to the death to name their leaders. She had planned to walk into their home and do things their way, the only way she could to win them. His insides rebelled, and he felt himself tear in half. _He was her protector, her bonded! He should fight!_ And then right behind that, he knew rationally that it could only be her, the leader of the Albho. If their support was to be won to her cause then she had to do things their way, and it had to be her.

_Oh, how well she knows me,_ the thought.

_You must remember no matter what you see, or what you feel, you must not interfere. If I am to lead them, they must find me worthy to do so._

He clenched his fists, and forced himself to stand still. He would not shame her here on this battlefield. He would do as she asked. His resolve was tested a moment later when in answer to her call a large wolf came forward stripping off his shirt as he moved. He was as tall as Eric, well-muscled and his eyes were already glowing in anticipation of what was to come. Holding his transformation back, not really believing he would need to shift to defeat the tiny creature before him.

Eric's eyes flicked to the circle of Were gathered around the fire noting that Flood had joined them, and with him were several Were soldiers in uniform. T_he surveillance team,_ he thought before looking back to his bonded. With a grace that made his dead heart roll over, she bowed to her opponent and simultaneously withdrew her fairy swords. The Wolf took that moment of her head being down in the bow to charge her, but ran through air as she side stepped his maneuver, swords flashing in the firelight.

Her fangs were down, and her ears were pointing through her hair as she danced with her opponent so quick and nimble that they might have been back at the gala of the previous evening. He was frozen to the spot hypnotized by the amazing woman that he was bonded to. He reached out to her then through their connection, and found perfect calm and peace inside her. Her whole being was focused on this moment. He retreated quietly and watched, falling in love with every move she made.

The Were came back again reaching for her with his long arms, trying again to tackle her and gain the advantage over her wicked blades with his brute strength. He got one hand on her and she flipped hilt of the sword in her hand, wrapping her fist around it before landing a punch on his jaw that took him off his feet and back a foot to land on his ass.

_I needed your strength._

Yes, she had needed him tonight, and he was proud to have been there for her. Proud to be hers as she ran at the Were who was on the ground and brought her leg up to round house kick him under the chin. It was a blow that would have snapped the neck of a human. The Were roared in pain and came up his transformation beginning now that rage had taken control of his rational mind.

"I will gnaw the marrow from your bones, bitch!" he called to her, his words barely intelligible at that end as his transformation completed. He was on her in an instant, going for her throat, seeking to tear at her flesh with his sharp claws. Her blades flashed again as she turned away and back into his body skewering him on his own momentum. His high pitched cry pierced the night air as his graceful leap ended in him crashing to the ground with a palpable thud.

A moment later the pack around the fire let out a chilling howl in unison.

Sookie jerked her sword from the corpse of the wolf and turned to face them, fangs flashing like her blades, fire in her eyes, her whole body now taking on that same glow. He watched her rise from the ground and stop, hovering there before them as her voice rang out again.

**"Your champion has fallen. What say you?"**

As one the pack fell to their knees before her, heads low to the ground.

The entire battle had taken less than three minutes.


	16. Connections

**The Big Bang- Connections**

When her feet touched the ground she sheathed her swords and knelt next to the fallen Were. The pack, still kneeling watched her cautiously wondering what was coming next. She rolled him over, his human form having returned at his death on the end her sword. She placed him gently on his back on the soft grass, and then turned to face the pack again.

**"Unite with me!"** she called out placing both her palms flat on the ground before her.

**"I am The Light, the Daughter of Air and Earth! Unite with me and together we can put right what is wrong!"** As one the pack placed their hands on the ground, howling assent to her demand.

Eric watched, still frozen as he felt her in the bond reach down into the ground, into the heart of the world and tap into its power. She called forth the force of life itself at her command! He saw the ground around her light up, and the grass start to die and wither as its life force moved up her arms, infusing her with the power of life. It was thrumming in the bond, reaching him too, and for a moment it was so overwhelming so infusing he felt his own dead heart beat, once, twice, three times. His heart was pounding in time with pulsing light that covered his bonded's body. Her scream split the night as she lit up so brightly he had to look away.

She was like the sun itself.

From behind his hand, raised to shield his eyes, he saw her turn and place her hands on the dead Were, the light passing from her to him in waves. The pack howled again, trapped in her spell of light and magic just as he was. She writhed in the light, leaning over the Were, her hands on his chest infusing him with the life force she pulled from the womb of the earth itself.

**"LIVE!"** she cried out, just as the light intensified one last time and body of the Were jerked beside her.

Slowly the light began to recede and the Were sat up, looking around. Confused he reached for his chest, looking for the mortal wound she had given him moments before. She smiled softly at him, and reached out to touch his face.

"First we did it your way. Now we do it mine. A warrior such as you should live on to fight and chase the moon for many cycles to come. I need an ally like you in the coming battle. Will you stand with me?" His face a mix of awe and adoration he nodded, placing his hand over hers on his face.

"To the bitter end, Milady." She rose then and faced the pack.

"So say you all?" She called out, as the resurrected Wolf rose behind her to stand at her side.

"So say we all!" the pack answered as one.

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"You know what to do now," she told Flood when he approached her by the fire.

"Yes, Majesty. It will be done." She nodded and started toward Eric, her gait steady, but he could feel her trembling in the bond. She was on the verge of collapse but determined not to let them see it. When she reached him she looked up at him, pulling on the bond for strength.

"Take me away from here, Eric." She didn't have to ask twice. He had her in his arms and in the air before she had finished speaking. His thoughts were moving like sludge as he tried to process what he witnessed. She clung to him, her body still vibrating from the power she had channeled to call the Were back from Death. Her skin still retained a glow that he could see plainly in the dark as they flew over the forest where the pack had gathered.

"Take us down," she whispered and he immediately started looking for a place to land. She was growing hotter in his arms, almost burning his cool skin through his clothes. When the touched down he sat down on the ground and pulled her into his arms, rocking her.

"What is wrong, Sookie. Please tell me," he said into her hair. She laughed a little shaking in his arms.

"All that and you want to know what's wrong?"

"I could feel you before that, something is not right." He was clearly worried. She grew hotter in his arms and suddenly jerked, seizing while he looked on helplessly. She moaned her eyes rolling back in her head.

"Connected," she whispered, distantly. Like she was talking to someone she couldn't see and not the worried vampire who held her in his arms. "All connected." He was growing frantic, unsure what to do as she continued to seize uncontrollably in his arms. Not knowing what else to do he brought his wrist to his lips and tore it open.

"Drink," he pleaded. When the first drops touched her tongue her hands came up to hold his wrist as she pulled his life blood into her. As their connection strengthened with each pull her saw what she was seeing, felt what she was feeling in the heart of the fire she had called forth from the earth.

Whispers of beings here and gone, holes in the web that tied all of creation together. "Connected," he repeated as she continued to drink. The heat of her body was now passing into him, heating and burning him and he felt like he might burst into flames. So intense was his pain that he did not notice she had let go of his arm. She had pushed him back onto the ground now, tearing at his clothes savagely.

"Need you," she said through clamped jaws. "Need you, please, need you now!" He felt it too ripped their clothes away with this supernatural strength, feeling like he was suffocating even though he had no need for air. _Burning, burning so hot. _ He rolled them over and pushed into her, gasping at the relief he felt when they became one.

"Connected," she whispered again wrapping her legs around his lower back, locking her ankles there, folding herself in half to allow him into her as deep as possible. He felt her around him, and through her he felt him in her. He moved, thrusting into her harder than he ever had before, seeking to relieve the pressure he felt in himself and in her.

"Connected," he echoed her words, before he claimed her lips in a savage kiss, demanding that she surrender to him, to give him everything as she had promised earlier. Unbidden images of her in the well of light she had called forth from the earth filled his mind and he felt his flesh burn hotter, his need increase a thousand fold. She cried out beneath him, and he knew she saw it, too. "Life, he said as he continued to move in her, not able to get deep enough to satisfy his need. He wanted to be a part of her forever. _ Connected._

He reached down and unlocked her legs from his body pushing them down flat, folding her in the way that she could not manage alone, gaining that small distance that caused his length to bottom out inside her.

Her screams of pleasure filled the night forest and he moved faster. _We can be one, if I can just reach you! Sookie! Please let me in. Let me in!_ His thoughts were disjointed and nonsensical but she heard him and answered by pulling him down to her, her fangs extended.

"Everything," she said looking deeply into his eyes, and then she bit. He buried his face in her neck and tasted her again. _Yes, this, this_, he thought, t_his is what I need. I need you, Sookie!_

As he drank he felt a flash of heat between them and he passed over the edge, letting go deep inside her, groaning. It was like nothing he had ever felt and kept getting better as he felt her hands on his back. There was another pulse of heat and the night lit up around them as her light entered his skin and he felt himself fill her again, his orgasm so intense that he lost himself totally, blacking out from the pleasure he felt. Her voice following him into the dark.

_Connected…_

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In a dream, in a vision, he did not know which he floated, disembodied, around him the shining web of creation. There were beings all around him, their hearts shining warmth as they held their strings in place.

_They are our Fathers…they are our Mothers, _Sookie spoke._  
_

He turned to find her but she wasn't there. On his left was a large white wolf, chasing a moon that never moved and that he never caught. He could feel the wolfs joy at the run that never ended.

To his right he saw a man shift into a bird and take to the sky, trailing his string as though he were a kite, again joy pierced him as the bird took flight.

He looked further and saw a vampire, fangs flashing, the master of destruction. He tried to turn away.

_No, look closer._

He forced himself to look back and saw that there was more. There was strength, and with control there was passion and compassion in the Vampire Father before him. He stared in awe, never having seen what his species could be, that they were part of the Light. Forcing his gaze away he looked for her. She was there, he could feel her. Moving on he finally saw her pulsing brightly in the web. He moved to her and stood before her ethereal beauty.

This was her true face, the one she worried he could not love. She was beautiful to his eyes, glowing as she had when she channeled the Earth to save the Were.

_Look._

He turned from her to look the way he had come and saw Darkness closing in. One by one the Fathers and Mothers fell to the Darkness.

_NO!_ he screamed turning back to her. It was then that he saw it. Life. Inside her. Glowing as brightly as the web that held them all.

_ERIC! _She screamed for him, but the Darkness closed in taking her and their child and he couldn't save them. In the dark another voice spoke.

_Go west. Don't stop until you find your sun._

_I FOUND HER! TELL ME HOW TO SAVE HER! TELL ME WHAT TO DO!_

_Ask me when we meet again._


	17. Gone Fishing

_A/N- Thank you to my constant readers and support team. Since the moment I started writing my first story here you guys have kept me inspired and laughing at your comments and questions. Just to shout out to a few of you of have been with me since the beginning, LostInSpace33, sluggysmom, ljhjlem49, mindy781, murgatroid-98, georgiasuzy, ashmo2000, VampMad50, VAlady, Duckbutt, thank you all so very much from the bottom of my Viking filled heart._

_Everyone else, the guests, the folks who slip in and read and then leave quietly, I appreciate you all as well, more than these few words could ever tell. This place wouldn't be the same without you all!_

_Much love! MUAH!_

_Some of the readers had lots of guesses about the ending of the last chapter, and I can only tell you that what he saw was part of being connected to Sookie and that it was a result of her channeling the life force of the planet through her body to save the Were that she had killed. I suspect that much juice could have many consequences. Until she did it, I didn't know she could either, but it was really cool to watch, even from this side of the keyboard. When I get into this, the characters seem to be telling me what they want to say and do, rather than the other way around. That said, I've been wondering since I woke up in the middle of the night last night why an immortal has a bucket list?_

_I mean, don't you guys wonder, too? And right behind that, what else is on that dang thing?_

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**The Big Bang- Gone Fishing**

In the nights that followed he was never far from her side. He worked to learn that structure of Brigant Industries and of Oklahoma. The more he learned the more impressed he was. Sookie was worth billions. She dismissed his comments, saying that it was easy when you had six hundred years to amass wealth. He was not fooled, he had longer and while his portfolio was diverse and he was wealthy in his own right, she rivaled him for savvy business investments. She knew when to get in, and when to get out and her finances showed it.

He also focused on learning her schedule, the layout of her primary residence and her other properties both in and out of her home state in case they needed retreat and sanctuary. Her real estate holdings were also vast and wide spread, many at the equator, where she could worship the sun in privacy and solitude. One stood out to him, first it was under another name, and it was not her usual alias' that he had come to recognize with some humor.

In Oklahoma, she was Sookie Brigant, but in other places around the country and the world she was Susan Bryant, Sarah Bingham, Shelly Burns, but the one that piqued his interest was in his home state of Louisiana under Sookie Stackhouse. When he had asked she had said the Stackhouse family had been connected to Fintan, the details were unclear but when she had set about creating her alternate identities and hideaways it had seemed right that this be one of her names and that she own property in that state. Fintan had some strange affinity for Louisiana. Morgana had told her it had to do with the portal there that led to the Fae realm, but she had always wondered. A glimmer of her old self shining through she had teased him then.

"What would you have done if I had showed up one night at you bar in Shreveport, with some flouncy little country girl dress on and came up to you? Would you have danced with me?" Enjoying her mood he played back with her.

"Hmmm, I don't know," he said, looking her over from head to toe thoughtfully. "How flouncy?"

"Oh, cut up to _here,_" she touched a spot above her knee, "And down to _here_," touching a spot deep in her cleavage. Raising a brow and appearing to consider a moment he asked for more detail.

"What color would this flouncy dress cut up to here, and down to here, be?" His had caressed her in the spots she indicated. Now she considered a moment.

"Red and white. I would look like warm inviting vampire bait."

"Vampire bait?" he echoed.

"Best way to catch one. It's all in the dress, you know?" For a moment he pictured her in the dress she described gracing Fangtasia. He saw her come up to his throne, the vermin parting way for her.

"Well, then I suppose you would have caught me, lover, but what then?" his hands had continued to wander on her body and she slid closer to him on the sofa in her office where they had been sitting side by side for hours going over paperwork and talking strategy.

"Well, with a big one like you on the hook, you have to give them their head, let them swim away a bit before you start to reel them in."

"I see," he said, pulling her onto him as he lay down, papers falling to the floor, forgotten.

"No, you don't. You've never been fishing and hooked a big one" she teased laughingly as she traced patterns on his chest with her finger. In indignant look came up on his face.

"I will have you know that I was an excellent fisherman in my human days."

"Catch many vampires back then did you?" A trace of smile appeared in the corner of his mouth, but he refused to give in and lose this game to her.

"No, I hunted much bigger quarry back then."

"Bigger?" she asked her voice going up in surprise. Motioning to his long frame spread out beneath her, "I'm skeptical." He looked insulted.

"I will show you sometime, the fish in my native land and then you will apologize to me. You will say, 'Oh my sexy, darling vampire, light of my soul, please forgive me for ever doubting you!'"

"These must be some fish."

"You have no idea. Did Pythia and Morgana never tell you of my fishing exploits?"

"Of course they did, that is how I got the idea to hook you with the red and white dress." His eyebrow came up in askance. "They told me it was all about the bait. You had to have the right thing on the hook to catch the really big ones." She was leaning in to kiss him then, her gaze on his lips which were still trying not smile. "I would have taken one look into your beautiful blue eyes and trusted you instantly." Her tone was quiet now as she continued to slowly zero in on him. She had just reached her target when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, still kissing her a moment before looking at the text message.

_Have you forgotten about us again? I can tell your mind is not in business._

"Pam," he told her as he responded. Be there at midnight as agreed.

"Send her my love," Sookie whispered, slowly continuing her gentle assault on his neck, moving up to his ear. S_ookie says piss off_, he typed before putting the phone back in his pocket. A moment later he felt Pam's laughter in their bond. He as amazed at how well his Queen and his child got on together. Pam had arrived in Oklahoma a week ago, three nights after Sookie's fight with the pack. They had met her at the private air strip where she disembarked Sookie's personal jet her Louis Vuitton in hand, looking immaculate like always.

Sookie had arranged for a special cocktail of A positive with a dash of fairy blood thrown in for kick during Pam's flight. She was slightly intoxicated when she arrived. She had walked up to them, set her bag down on the ground and nodding to Eric focused all her attention on the small blond woman at his side. Slowly, perusing her from head to toe, she sensuously licked her lips. "If this is torture, where is the signup sheet?"

"I left it in the car, but I have a good memory," Sookie had fired right back not missing a beat. "Do you like whips, chains, or both?"

"Fuck Louisiana, I'm moving to Oklahoma where they know how to party!" It was love at first sight. Well, possibly lust on Pam's part, but close enough.

He was more relieved than he would like to admit. They had settled her in at one of Sookie's alternate properties, and were due there soon to bring Pam and other arrivals up to speed on the latest. Pam had been the first of Eric's allies to arrive, but more were due soon, and as matter of policy and detente they were obligated to check in with and inform their vampire queen in residence.

Eric had seen Freyda several times at various vampire summits, but had not spoken to her directly before. Sookie had dealt with her on several occasions for intrastate supernatural matters and felt that with so many new vampires entering the state now was the time to recruit Freyda to their side. Sookie had also told him that Freyda had made it plain that she was very interested in taking Sookie as a lover. That thought pulled him back into the moment, and he caught his beautiful bonded bringing her in for a window rattling kiss before leaving her gasping for air. He moved on to her neck, peppering her with light baby kisses interspersed with questions.

"What if she insists in sealing the pact with a romp in the sheets?" The image of them together at once aroused his inner beast with lust and jealousy.

"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices," she answered teasing him. He checked the bond to make sure.

"You are mine!" he renewed his efforts as punishment for her teasing.

"Methinks the gentleman doth protest a bit too much. I can tell that part of you likes the idea a lot." Her hand caressed him through his jeans, making his hips thrust reflexively against her hand.

"What are you, some kind of telepath or something?" he asked, teasing her now.

"One needn't be a telepath to tell what's on your mind," she served back before moving her lips back to his. She pulled back after a moment and continued to up the game. "I will tell you sometime of my adventures with Eleanor." She dived in to kiss him again, leaving him dazed when she pulled back, a devilish smile on his lips.

"Roosevelt?!" he asked, trying to focus.

"Oh, that FDR was a real hoot!" He growled then ready to spring when he heard the car pull up outside. Playtime was over. The Vampire Queen of Oklahoma had arrived.

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One of the fairy guards showed Freyda in and Eric said a silent prayer of gratitude for Sookie's magic that protected both vampire and fairy inside her residence. He also noted that Sookie had masked her own scent, wiping it totally from the room, including her arousal from the game they had just been playing. All that was left was very watered down smell of her blood mixed with his. He relaxed inside. She had been teasing. She was going to make it plain to Freyda just who she belonged to, once and for all.

"Sookie," Freyda called to her as came in. Eric saw her inhale and look at him, eyes flashing for a just a moment. _She really did want Sookie for herself. Not a fucking chance, bitch. She is mine!_

"Freyda, welcome. Thank you for coming. Please take a seat, we have much to discuss."

Eric watched as Sookie explained their situation, showing photographs of the Fae and Vampire royalty that were aligned with Niall and the Ciar. When she was done Freyda looked quite pale. She turned to Eric. This was not unexpected. Some allies were won with swords and some through detente. How odd that I usually am the muscle, the thought before he stepped forward to confirm what Sookie had just told her.

"Your Majesty," he said to Freyda coming to stand beside Sookie at her desk. "If the Ciar succeed it will mean the end of all species except the Fae. We do not know what tricks or lies have been used to win the other monarchs to their side, but I swear to you now, there is no other ending for this but our demise if we should fail to stop them." Freyda sat a moment.

"Viking, your reputation precedes you, and your oath carries great weight among our kind. This more than anything else I have heard tonight gives me cause to stand with you, but we had heard that you had been sold into slavery by your maker. What proof do I have that this is the truth and not some deceit forced upon you by Oklahoma herself?" Sookie rose then to stand beside him and loosened more of the magic that suppressed her scent. Apparently, Freyda had missed the implications of what she had sensed upon entering the room.

His fangs snapped down, and he rose to his full height, "Oklahoma is mine!" he declared proudly, pulling Sookie close to him. Freyda's eyes grew large, her expression disbelieving.

"Bonded?"

"Bonded," Sookie repeated firmly. Freyda sat back in her chair, looking at them in shock and surprise. He felt Sookie stiffen a moment in his arms, and knew that she had heard something in the vampires mind. She smiled at Freyda, her fangs on full display. "You can try, but if you do, it will be the last fucking thing you ever do." Freyda looked at her for a moment and then nodded her head in acceptance before rising.

"In times like these, it is good to have a telepath in your side. A telepath bonded to a vampire, even better. We are at your service, Brigant. Viking," she acknowledged as she stood then and swept regally from the room. As soon as her car had left the drive he turned back to his mate.

"What was that about?"

"Hooking a big one." She had that look on her face again, devilish humor that swept away his sanity. "First you hook them, then you give them their head and let them swim before you reel them back in. Then you club them and throw them into the boat. That," she said moving to sit down behind her desk, propping her feet up, looking up at him," was me clubbing her." He looked at her through narrowed eyes. "What?" she asked doing her best to look innocent. Despite himself, he cracked up. She was maddening, and quite probably the best thing that had ever happened to him.

That was the moment he knew he was in love with her. Watching her feigned innocence crumble as she cracked up into giggles with him. She was amazing. His phone buzzed, and before he even looked he knew it was Pam.

_I felt that!_

He cracked up all over again.


	18. I Want One

**The Big Bang- I Want One**

Pam watched them enter side by side. She might be the Queen of Oklahoma but that alone told every vampire in the room that they were equals in this war. She felt something inside her unwind a little more. From the moment Eric had told her that he would be going to Oklahoma she had feared for her maker. They tried everything they could to get out of the contract, Appius had stood by feeling smug and watching them fail time and time again, his pleasure ramping up each time hope became fainter in Eric.

She could not understand how such a creature could have produced a master who was fair and at times loving to his child. By all rights, he should be the monster that his maker had tried for so long to make him. Perhaps that was it, he was rebelling. A thousand years of refusing to eat his vegetables, pick up his clothes, and do his homework. She amused herself so at times like this, but on some level she knew she was deflecting.

She had kept a watchful eye on the their maker-child bond from the moment he had boarded Oklahoma's private jet. He had closed it off, of course, trying still to protect her from the rage, shame and pain that he knew were in his future. He had released her long ago, and he knew she stayed with him because she cared. Knowing that he had commanded her never to come to Oklahoma, no matter what. His expression at the time had told her that no matter what happened to him, he could take some comfort in knowing she was safe.

"Avoid Appius. He will leave when he realizes I have closed the bond and there is no misery here for him to dine on." She had choked back her own pain, determined to make him proud. His maker would never feed on the anguish she felt at the loss of Eric. Just as he had thought, Appius had left the area a few days after his departure. She had ordered Talia to follow him. She tracked him to border of Mississippi but stopped there. Pam only cared that he was gone, not where he went.

Six nights. Her maker had been gone for six nights when she felt the bond burst to life and her phone rang. It took a moment to get past her own joy to realize that he was feeling it as well.

"Are you well, Pam?"

"Now I am."

"Pack a bag, leave the bar in the care of Talia. Come to Oklahoma. Tell no one your destination."

"The Queen?"

"No one. We are sending a plane to get you tomorrow night.

"We?"

"Oklahoma and I."

"You are well then, master?" Joy flared in the bond again. She had never felt anything like that from him before.

"Yes, Pam. See you tomorrow night."

From the moment she set eyes on the tiny blond queen at his side, Pam had known that she was the source of Eric's joy. Testing her mettle immediately, she found the queen's quick responses and obvious loyalty to her master justified his feeling. Of course, the spiked beverage the queen had arranged on her flight, going that extra little mile to make her feel welcome spoke volumes, too. She was important to Eric, so she was important to Sookie.

She was easy on the eyes, too, which didn't hurt matters. When they had arrived at the home where they were currently gathered, Sookie had presented her with a welcome gift that removed any lingering doubt. Louboutin's and a new set of silver sia, handles covered of course. Tribute to the woman and the warrior that lived in his master's child. It could have been love at first sight for Pam, if Eric weren't so totally gone for her already.

_I want one._

The first thought she had as she looked at the woman before her, shoes in one hand and weapon in the other. Sookie had smiled at her knowingly but said nothing. Discreet, too. They had known that Oklahoma could read minds and he had lamented once in his deepest despair before coming here that even his mind would not be safe from her. Appius had overheard and laughed a gleeful laugh to think of yet another way his progeny could be violated against his will. If he only knew. Appius would explode in rage to see his rebel child here, clearly happy, clearly in love and clearly in his element as he swept into the room and greeted the allies he had summoned to stand beside him in the battle to come.

_Fuck you, Appius. You lose._

Eric greeted Ethan, King of England whom he had served centuries before, Lilliana, Queen of Scotland, and James, King of Ireland. Each monarch a former patron of her master, and a staunch ally, commanding hundreds of vampires that could stand with them when needed. He greeted them as friends and joined in with them reminiscing about their times from long ago. He introduced his bonded to them and she, ever the Queen, conjured refreshments for their guests, minus the added spike, Pam pouted as she sipped her perfectly warmed AB negative from a crystal champagne glass. They continued to chat as they waited for the rest of their guests to arrive.

A few moments later the door opened and several fairies entered the room. Sookie had provided rings for the vampires, like the one Eric wore, and so there was no danger of anyone losing control. At least not until Nevada entered the room. He scanned everyone quickly sizing up the room, noting the exists, demonstrating that despite his pretty wrapping he was a soldier of experience. His eyes moved over Pam as he scanned and then stopped, and moved back. She felt a tingle go up her spine that no ring could stop.

_I want one._

He stared a moment and he started to smile when Sookie called his name, "Alcide, welcome! Come join us!" He looked at Pam once again, nodding slightly in her direction before joining in the introductions. He glanced back as conversation shifted from niceties to business. She felt the tug of her makers call and moved to join them as they went over the information they had gathered so far. Several of the Were they had recruited before her arrival had infiltrated the key Fae monarch's residences as house staff and had been feeding them intel. They were tasked with finding out the time table for Z-Pop and the second initiative. She found it difficult to concentrate and kept looking at the beautiful fairy, the King of Nevada, she corrected herself, as the talks went on. Luckily, she already knew most of what they were discussing.

_I want one._

It was the only thought that she kept come back, too. Except now it was more specific.

_I want THAT one._

"Something on your mind, Pam?" Sookie asked her, that evil glint in her eyes that she had come to recognize as a sister to her own. Not one to be put down, ever, Pam responded immediately not pulling her punches.

"Yes, I think it would a great step toward improving interspecies relation if the King of Nevada stepped away with me to my room for several hours." Sookie giggled and looked at Alcide. There may not be much that Fae and Vampire have in common on the surface, but on the inside, they were kindred.

He stood taller, and looked directly at Pam, "I concur." They left the room a few minutes later and before long, sounds of their improving relations filled the entire house. Eric, was stone faced but Sookie could feel his shock and discomfort in the bond. She took his hand to soothe him and looked around the room at their other regal guests.

"Kids," said with a smile and wink, "Whatcha gonna do?"

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They emerged from Pam's room several hours later, much more relaxed now. The other monarchs had already departed, their business complete for the time being. She could feel Eric's satisfaction over the night's negotiation and his own happiness and slight annoyance when they interrupted him and Sookie kissing on the sofa.

"Did we miss anything?" she asked, Alcide taking the chair across from them on the sofa and pulling her down onto his lap. Still kissing Sookie's neck softly he spoke in between.

"We decided to pair up. Each species has advantages over the other and since we don't know yet what they may throw at us, it is best to be prepared. You will go back to Nevada with Alcide. I assume you two find that arrangement suitable?" She looked at Alcide and he nodded. "The European monarchs brought information about The Iron Fist. Rumors about something coming soon, some kind of joint efforts in both Europe and North America.

"You are to seek information about that in addition to pursing information about the Ciar agenda. If we can determine a time table we will be in touch, for now though gathering information is our best weapon. You leave tonight." He pulled back from Sookie's neck then and kissed her softly on the lips, cupping her face and resting his forehead against hers for a moment. "I would speak with you before you leave." Sookie rose then and motioned for Alcide to join her in the kitchen so they could talk. When they had left Eric stood and came over to her, kneeling at her feet, tucking her hair back behind her hear gently.

"I have missed you, Pam."

"And I you, master."

"What we are doing is dangerous and one or both of us could fall in the battles yet to come. Before you go, I want you to know that no maker has ever been as proud as I am of you, my child. You are infuriating, and aggravating and strong and smart and beautiful. I believe that you will come out the other side of this and go on for many centuries to come, but I wanted you to know. I should have told you sooner." Pushing her own emotion back she chose to focus on him.

"What of you, master. Surely you do not worry for your own survival in this battle?"

"I believe that we will be victorious. That doesn't take away my obligation as your maker to tell you the joy that you have brought to me all these nights since your making." He had been looking into her eyes, bond wide open between them holding nothing back. It was the most open he had ever been with her. "Your fairy," he asked her softly, "is it real do you think?" She shook her head.

"It's too soon to tell." He nodded and kissed her forehead softly.

"There are some things you need to know that Sookie and I have discovered together. If he shares blood with you, you can walk in the day." Her eyes grew wide. "I have done it, several times now. We are not sure how long it lasts, so if you two decide to do it, experiment cautiously until you learn the way of it. If you care for each other this can be a great weapon against your enemies, but guard this secret well. Tell no one what you two can do, should you decide to do it." She nodded her face serious and awed at the idea of the sun for the first time in so long. He hesitated then.

"Master?" she asked, touching his face softly.

"Your fairy, if it does turn out to be real, it can be quite wonderful, Pam. Unlike anything you have ever known before." She felt his joy again and a single blood tear slipped down her cheek. She nodded and hugged him tightly.

"I will see you soon, Master." He nodded and squeezed her a little bit tighter.


	19. Shadow Games

A/N Thanks to all my readers. Love to hear from you all ! :)

_**The Big Bang- Shadow Games**_

When Eric awoke she was asleep beside him, like she had been every night since her fight with the Were. It had been three weeks since that night and their plans and, alliances had been had been coming together nicely, but she, his love, was weakening. A thousand times he had replayed her telling him that she didn't rest unless she needed to heal. His worry was always at the back of his mind, but he had no idea what to do to make it better.

They had shared blood nearly every night since then and it restored her for a brief time, but each night when he rose, she was there tucked into his side, sleeping peacefully. He watched her and felt his mind wander away, seeking answers that he had no way to get. Who could he ask? Who could he trust? Only Sookie herself, and she avoided his questions, stubbornly clinging to the notion that she had to be strong for him, for all of them. She still didn't understand why she needed him, only that she did.

Last night had been especially difficult for her. When they had left his chamber they had found an invitation to A Sky Full Of Stars, an event hosted by Niall Brigant and his company Dreamscapes Unlimited. To the human world Niall was a philanthropist who supported advancements in pharmaceuticals and medicines for the human race. He worked closely with the US government and others around the world to manufacture new cures for the diseases that ravaged the population. He had been established prior to the Reveal and had produced drugs that had induced miraculous rates of healing in the human populace. That alone had given the Fae credibility for their promises, and had paved the way to what success they had thus achieved.

In conjunction with Sookie's company, Brigant Industries, which focused on environmental and industrial cleanup, they had launched numerous programs that engaged the residents of this world and made them feel empowered to change things for the better. Unemployment was at an all-time high and the civil unrest in addition to governments having to bail out numerous industries opened the door to manpower for these programs. Both companies together offered training and jobs to those in desperate need.

Niall focused on community outreach, and in making sure his drugs were available to all in need no matter their financial status. Sookie handled outreach around the world, bringing water to the desert, and crops to those with no food. She cleaned up industrial waste and worked with corporations to find better ways to keep their businesses open and not kill the world they all shared together. She funded reforestation of decimated rainforests and ran shelters for animals that had been evicted from their natural habitats until change and reformation could be completed that would one day return them to their rightful homes.

It was hard work and she met with lots of resistance from the top one percent that received the most benefits from these dangerous practices. She was in boardroom after boardroom showing them that they could still profit and help restore and maintain the environment that they all needed to live. On the surface it was perfect. She and her Grandfather were an unstoppable team and they were lauded and applauded the world over for their efforts.

A Sky Full of Stars was an international event that would be hosted in New Orleans, where Niall's corporate offices resided, and the list was full of not only red carpet celebrities, but also high ranking officials from governments around the world, including the US Vice President and his wife. Sookie and a few other key well know Fae representatives were expected to celebrate their accomplishments and to reveal the next step of their plan to save the planet.

"I hate fucking shadow games!" she had screamed throwing the invitation to the floor. "He knows I know, and he knows that I am going to stop him!" She had begun pacing then. "I have to be there and he knows it. For me not to show up only casts doubt on the real work that I am doing. I would rather just face him head on and let this be done once and for all!" Tears of rage were slipping out now as she paced faster around her office like a caged animal.

"What would happen if you did face him one on one, Sookie?" She rarely spoke of Niall and he took advantage of the opportunity to gain knowledge of their opponent. She had stopped at his question, deflating instantly, like she was a balloon and he had let the air out of her. He could barely hear her whispered answer.

"He would kill me in about three seconds. I learned everything I know at his knee. I could not beat him in battle, and that is the best case scenario." Despair filled the bond now and he was at her side instantly.

"Best case scenario? What could be worse than that?" There was certainly nothing worse that Eric could think of than losing her.

"Worst case, he kidnaps me, holds me until the Ciar agenda is fulfilled and then sets me to walk what is left of this world alone. I would rather be dead." The truth of her words swept over him.

"You will never be alone, Sookie."

"He would kill you, too, Eric. Even if you managed to escape his nets, when the human race goes, so do you." She was shaking now. "There would be nothing for me here then. Nothing at all."

Pulling her close to him and told what was in his heart, "I am not easy to kill, and I don't give up either. No matter what happens, we won't fail, not as long as we have each other."

"But if he takes me and forces me to-" he cut her off.

"It won't change a single thing. We will always be together. That is me in your veins, and you in mine." He pulled her head up to look into her eyes. "That is me in your heart, and you in mine. To be away from you is a pain that I can't imagine, but should I be forced to realize it, then know that every single moment I have left will be spent trying to get me back to your side. Will you promise me the same, my Queen?"

"I promise." A small smile appeared on her lips and she could feel her despair lessening. "You always know the perfect thing to say to me."

"May it always be so, lover," he kissed her forehead softly his words a prayer to any god who might be listening. "May it always be so."

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She began to awaken next to him, pulling him from his thoughts of the past and the future. She snuggled closer to him, not speaking as she came slowly awake. When she had nestled her head in that spot on his chest that seemed to made for her and he had wrapped her in his arms, feeling something inside him relax, as it always did when she was close to him.

There were calls to make, and arrangements to make for their trip to New Orleans, but for now they just lay there, holding each other not speaking.

Some things were too big for mere words, so they opened their bond and let themselves share that perfect moment of peace of love between just the two of them. After all, what was the point in saving the world if you couldn't take a moment to enjoy the thing that you were fighting for in the first place.

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They were entering her office when she turned to him, "Should we go to Louisiana early? We could talk to Sophie Anne and see if should would be willing to help us?" He nodded.

"I had thought, too that it would be advantageous to have an ally in the state where his main operation resides. I could also show you my bar in Shreveport." A devilish glint in his eye.

"And I could wear a flouncy dress and wander in looking for a dance?" she twinkled back at him.

"I will admit that I would like to meet this Sookie Stackhouse woman."

"Should I be jealous, lover?"

"Definitely. From what I have heard she knows how to hook the big ones."

"I will club you, you realize that don't you?"

"Oh, I hope so. A good clubbing from time to time can be fun."

"I don't think who ever has been clubbing has been doing it right if you think it's fun," she shot back.

"Tell me why you are sleeping now, Sookie. Why do you need to heal?"

"I take it back, you know what clubbing is." He could see the joy seeping out of her now and he almost regretted pressuring her to tell him, but he needed to know.

"How can I protect you if you won't tell me the truth, Sookie?" She saw his pain and worry in that moment and was just about to relent when he doubled over falling to his knees on the floor. She was at his side instantly. She could feel his agony through the bond, loud and blazing, and she could feel another smaller pain coming from somewhere else through the bond they shared.

"Pam?" he nodded. "Hold on, baby." She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes starting to light up from the inside. In a flash of light they disappeared from her office.


	20. My Goddess

**The Big Bang- My Goddess**

Sookie followed the bond to the King Of Nevada's residential office. Pam yelling was the first thing she heard.

"TELL ME AGAIN, DAMNIT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FUCKING LOSERS WERE NOT WATCHING OVER HIM BETTER THAN THIS!"

"Look, we don't owe you anything, vampire! The fact that I am telling you anything at all is just a courtesy." She launched herself at the fairy screaming.

"I'LL SHOW YOU SOME FUCKING COURTESY!"

"PAMELA!" Eric's voice stopped her in her tracks. Sookie left his side to move between Pam in the guard. Placing herself right in his face, her eyes lighting up.

"What say you show me some courtesy, Hamilton?" The guard stepped back, immediately falling to his knees, head down.

"Majesty. I did not know you were here."

"STOP WASTING TIME AND TELL ME WHERE ALCIDE IS!" Pam was definitely losing her patience. The guard looked at her with contempt on his face before flicking his eyes back to Sookie, his expression changing instantly.

"Majesty, the King had a late appointment tonight and we did not expect him until around six. When he was late I called the guard that is with him during the day and got no answer. Since then we have determined that he was taken on the road home, his car abandoned, no trace of him or his guard. We have been searching, but as of yet-"

"They haven't found a fucking thing," Pam finished for him. Her voice might have been quieter now, but her tone still said this guy's days were numbered if they didn't turn up something, and fast.

"Who can I talk to that will have more information?" Sookie pressed him. "Who was his last appointment with? Where? Did you find his phone in the car?" The guard looked like he was under fire her questions were coming so fast.

"His executive assistant might know more, we have left messages. His last appointment nor its location were known to us. There are many things that they King does not share with us these days." His eyes flicked to Pam again.

"Leave us," Sookie's tone brooked no argument. Alcide was a known member of the Fae community, and while the general populace did not know he was royalty, they knew that he was involved in the projects that she and her grandfather orchestrated. His specialty was civil engineering, architecture and design, building a better future for the planet by designing factories and buildings that melded to environment rather than destroying it. He was heavily engaged in several of Sookie's current initiatives in Africa and South America, and of course he was her second in command for the Albho. Any of those were good enough reasons to take him.

She turned to Pam and was about to speak when Eric appeared beside her and shook his head, pointing to his ear. _** This room is under electronic surveillance.**_ She pulled the thoughts from his mind effortlessly. She turned and stepped back out into the hall, summoning the guard she had just dismissed. "Eric is going to search the house to look for anything that might help us find the king. Inform the other guards." He nodded looking none too pleased. She rolled into his mind like an ocean wave to determine what the cause of his discomfort might be.

_**Damn vampires. I can't stand them, never could and now the king has taken one into his bed. Like that won't end badly. If he hadn't been taken while the bitch was dead, she would be my top suspect. Maybe she glamoured someone into taking him so that we wouldn't suspect her! She could be having him held somewhere right now. If Oklahoma hadn't showed up I would have made her talk!**_

Sookie rolled her eyes and turned away, motioning for Eric to make a sweep of the residence. While he was gone she moved to Pam and pulled her into her arms. There was nothing they could say in this room that would not be overheard but she could show her concern in this way. Pam was stiff in her arms at first and then relaxed into the hug.

_**I can't lose him, not after I just found him! We haven't had enough time yet! When I find who did this I am going to rip their guts out with my bare hands!**_

Her thoughts were graphic but Sookie understood completely. If someone dared to touch Eric, they would know pain that they would take with them from this life to beyond. She flashed for a moment in her visit with Freyda several weeks ago.

_**She obviously has an affinity for vampire. I should kill the Viking and then I could have her for myself. **_

Rage filled her again, as it had in that moment. Let her try to touch him. Just fucking let her try! While the meeting had seemed to go well at the end she did not trust Freyda with her precious Viking not for a second. Pam pulled back from her embrace, bringing her attention back to the moment. Eric entered in that moment and took a piece of paper from the desk. Grabbing a pen he told them that he had found five other listening devices in the house, in the master bedroom, bathroom, living room, library and the garage had a camera in addition to a listening device. The level of dust on them indicated that they had been in place for several weeks at least. Sookie took the pen.

Your room? To Pam. She shrugged and led the way, Eric and Sookie following close behind. When they entered Eric did a quick check of the light tight room that Alcide had built for her as soon as they had arrived at his house. The keypad entry lessened the chance that anyone had been able to get a listening device into this room of the house. Eric cleared them to speak a few moments later.

"What's been happening here, Pam?" They had spoken every few days since Alcide and Pam had departed Oklahoma for Las Vegas, and everything had seemed fine. Clearly they had missed a few things. Pam gathered herself and tried to think about the past few days.

"Alcide told me last night that he thought he had a lead on The Iron Fist and what they were planning. He said one of his clients had called and said that he found something out about the company he works for, but wouldn't say anything else over the phone. Alcide told me later that he thought he had evidence that the Fist was being funded by one of the Fortune 500 companies that had taken a hit after the Reveal. Maybe more than one. He thought if he could find out who then he could find out what they were planning."

"So, his meeting tonight was with the contact?" the tone of his voice indicating that he was still in some distress from his bond with Pam. She nodded.

"Someone named Paul Conard, from Conard Construction. They were supposed to meet for drinks on the strip."

"I know, Conard," Sookie spoke up then. "I met him at a presentation I did last year. We talked about different materials they could use if they wanted to work with Brigant on some of our international jobs. He spoke of how these materials were more expensive and he wasn't sure he could maintain his business and provide what Brigant required."

"What happened?" Eric asked

"We parted amicably but his company lost a fortune when Brigant selected another company to do business with one who was willing to accept the initial losses for the bigger gains that would come later."

"You think Conard took him, Sookie?" Pam was up and ready to go

"Maybe. We have to consider though, where in the house did Alcide tell you about this appointment?"

"His office," Pam slumped again as she realized that this could have been just an opportunity or that it could the people that Conard wanted to talk about. Too many unknowns. Eric spoke then in an effort to console Pam and chart out what they should do next. Sookie knew what he was going to say before he did and she didn't need to read his mind. They worked that well together now.

"Pam and I will go to the site he was taken from to see what we can pick up."

"And I will read the guards and house staff to see if one of them planted the listening devices." He nodded, moving to kiss her.

"I haven't forgotten what we were talking about when all this went down. We will be talking about it later." She nodded and kissed him like he was going off to war, which in a way he was.

"You be careful out there, until we know more we are all at risk." he nodded and in a blink he and Pam were gone.

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Sookie found Hamilton on the phone in Alcide's office. She motioned for him to join her and led him to Pam's room.

She closed the door and turned to him, her eyes glowing. "Did you know this house was bugged?"

"What?" She listened then. _** What the fuck is she talking about? We sweep for bugs twice a week!**_ "No, we sweep for bugs twice a week."

"Who? Who sweeps?" Understanding dawned in Hamilton's eyes now. _**Logan.**_

"Logan sweeps." _**Logan has been acting funny for weeks now, I knew something was up with him.**_

"Fairy?" Sookie asked, her tone deadly cold. Hamilton nodded. "Part of the royal staff?" He nodded again.

"Logan covers the royal residences and the corporate offices."

"And you never suspected that he was planting more than he was sweeping?"

"No. Well…I uh…I thought something was off when he came back from vacation about a month ago. But when I asked him he said everything was fine and I let it drop." Hamilton looked very remorseful and angry, which his thoughts told Sookie was mostly at himself.

"Can you get him here? Tell him that we think there might be something going on and we need his expertise?" Her tone told him he answer had better be yes. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed. The call went to voicemail.

"Logan, this is Hamilton. We have a situation. Call me."

"Does he usually answer your calls?"

"Yes, he knows when I call it's serious."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"Sure, ten minutes from here, about a mile off the strip in a subdivision."

"Get your keys." Moving toward he door he froze when Sookie spoke.

"One more question." He turned back to her. "Where did Logan take his vacation?"

"New Orleans, he has a big thing for jazz." Sookie's eyes turned to fire.

"Tell no one. Say nothing outside this room. I will meet you downstairs in five minutes." Hamilton hurried out. Sookie was unsure if Eric had his phone and she knew that she didn't have hers. She closed her eyes and called her mobile to her. If he failed to answer she would try Pam. He picked up on the first ring. A minute later she hung up and moved toward the door.

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When he ended the call he turned to Pam and told her that Sookie had a lead she was following. They were on the side of the road where Alcide had been taken. His car had already been removed but they already knew what they had come to find out. There were signs of a struggle and the scent of fairy blood hung thick in the air. They had placed him in another vehicle and the trail ended a few hundred feet down the road from the abduction.

"THOSE BASTARDS!" Pam screamed out her anguish into the night. Eric was struck with the thought that he had never seen her like this, in all their time together, Pam was the epitome of cool and control. To see her undone like this was…unsettling. "That's Alcide's blood!" She was shaking with rage now. "We need to go meet Sookie at the fairy's house!"

"We will, but first you must gather yourself, Pam. If you in there like this so out of control you will kill him before we can find out anything."

"GATHER MYSELF? GATHER MY FUCKING SELF? WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THEY TOOK SOOKIE?"

"First I would find her, and then I would indulge my bloodlust." His calm reasoning tone seemed to get through to her and she stepped back, working to put her mask in place. After a moment, she stood before him composed and ready. He could still feel her rage though and he pitied the being it was finally unleashed on. Like maker like child, he thought.

"So, it's real then?" he asked her the same thing he had asked her in Oklahoma a few weeks ago.

"Yes, and it's everything you said it would be. That is why I have to find him." Eric nodded, sending her comfort through their tie.

"I understand."

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Eric followed the bond to Sookie and he and Pam arrived at the same time she and Hamilton at Logan's house. As one the four of them moved to the door. About ten feet away Eric spoke.

"Blood. Fairy blood. Lots of it." Sookie checked to make sure both her vampires had their rings on before starting to move again. Hamilton took point, kicking in the door. A large pile of dust told them that Logan was no longer at home. His blood however had been used to paint the walls, literally. Someone had had a party before they drained him. They had used his blood to draw strange images on the walls of his home.

"Vampire," Eric confirmed her question that she didn't even need to ask.

"But why? Isn't that a waste?" He shook his head grimly.

"When a vampire ingests pure Fae blood they sometimes lose control and do stupid things, like a college student on a drinking binge. They used to come Fangtasia all the time. However, I never let it get to this level."

"Do you recognize the vampire?" He inhaled deeply.

"Compton."

"Please "drunk co-ed" is too good for that bumbling asshole," Pam chimed in, sounding more like herself than she had all night. Despite her relief at Pam's recovery, Sookie was still all business.

"Can you track him, Eric?"

"Only from here to the curb. He got into a car when he left." She moved deeper into the house then.

"I think I can track him if we move fast." She moved deeper into the house then and placed her hand in Logan's blood on the wall. Her eyes closed and she lit up for a moment. Hamilton and Pam were anxiously waiting to see what would happen next, not having a clue what she was doing but Eric knew. She thought she could track Logan's blood that now resided in Compton to his location. He was struck again by her tenacity and her beauty as she worked to find Alcide. There was no way he could ever tell her how much he loved her in that moment, in all the moments they shared. His love for her made him feel hollow inside and full all at once.

"I got it," she said pulling back from the wall and walking out to the yard. She turned to face them. "We're going right to Compton. I don't' know where he is, or who he is with, and I don't know if Alcide is even with him. I need you all be ready when we arrive. We will have surprise on our side, but that will only last a moment. Understand?" They all nodded, Pam dropped her fangs, hell shining in her eyes, and Hamilton drew his service revolver and short silver knife he kept strapped to his ankle. She looked at Eric, locking gazes with him, a deadly look on her face. His fangs dropped as well and she smiled the coldest deadliest smile he had ever seen. "We need Compton alive if possible for information, but not at the expense of one of us. Kill them all of you have to."

_**I love you, my goddess,**_ he sent to her. She winked at him.

"I love you, too," she said as she lit up and they all disappeared from Logan's finelymanicured lawn.


	21. Perspective

**The Big Bang- Perspective**

Moments, really important moments that change your existence, happen fast, and they happen slowly. It's all about perspective. From the outside you might see a car crash happen and perceive it to be only a matter of seconds, but if you happen to be the one in the car, those seconds actually last for an indeterminate time. They slow, and things that are perceived from inside the event last much longer.

When Alcide's most trusted guard Coleman had driven his car into a ditch and turned to spray lemon juice in his face things had started to move slow. He felt his skin burn, and he felt someone hit him on the head and he felt himself being dragged from his car to another. They placed a bag over his burning face and spoke in hush whispers around him but he wasn't listening. Later, he might recall what he heard, but now he was still in the car as it ran into the ditch, still feeling the lemon juice burn his skin and eyes, still regretting the things that he should have done that he had not.

He had never told Pam that since the moment he had seen her in Oklahoma he had felt like the missing piece of his life had slipped into place. He had thought he knew what happiness was when he had been with Sookie, but no matter how hard he had tried to love her, there had been something missing between them. He should have hated her for denying him all the things they could have had together, but if he were honest a little part of him had always been relieved when she turned him down. He could see now in these slow moments of clarity that what he had thought was passion was going through the motions. He and Sookie made sense to him. It was logical, but logic did not a passionate union make.

His careening uncontrollable relationship with Pamela Ravenscroft made zero sense to him. Despite that fact, they fit. They fit in ways that he had never fit with anyone else ever. From the moment he laid eyes on her in Oklahoma she pushed him. She challenged him, dared him to match her in fearlessness and freedom. From the moment she had first spoken he had reveled in her frank and blatant honesty. Pam didn't play games, and for Alcide, that kind of direct honesty and passion was a balm for his weary soul. He was nearly six hundred years old and he had spent most of that trying to guess what was going on in the mind of one woman or another. Pam left no room for guesses. She knew what she wanted and she asked for it, in some cases demanded it. He had never had a satisfactory partner in or out of the bedroom. She had proven herself to be his equal in all ways, while still seeking whatever was next, whatever was more between them.

In his private moments while she rested for the day he often let his mind wander to what might happen when the Ciar threat had been resolved. Would she stay with him? Would they have time to explore what they might be without this invisible ax over their heads.

What had he been waiting for? It had been on his lips a thousand time to tell her. Most recently the night before when after all the planning and plotting had been done and they had retired to her room for some relaxation.

"You have so much on your mind, my fairy. So much worry and trouble on your handsome brow. Perhaps you would let me ease your troubled mind for a while?," she had said with a wicked glint in her eye as she dangled a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs. His body had responded immediately when she had restrained him to the bed moments later lighting some candles around the room with her vampire speed returning to him naked with one of them in her hands. "Ever play with candles, Alcide?" Her tone pure sex and he had moaned helplessly as she sat astride him and unbuttoned his shirt slowly, one button at a time. As each button came down, she placed a soft kiss on his chest and dropped a single drop of hot wax where her she had just kissed him. It was exquisite, so intense that he started to struggle.

"You're mine now," she whispered, continuing down his body with the same pattern. "No thoughts, no worries, no control, just me. Let me take care of you." he had surrendered to her in that moment and she had taken him to places he had never dreamed of as she unbuttoned his pants and dribbled hot wax down his thighs while she took him into his her cool mouth, swallowing all of him, the contrast between her mouth and the hot wax making it hard for him not to explode when he felt the back of her throat close around him. She had moaned then, refusing to let him go, but reminding him that she was in charge here. The sound vibrations took over and he released in her mouth screaming her name.

Not one to give up she had continued to stimulate him with her mouth and hands after blowing out the candle until he was rock hard again. "Oh, my," she said, sitting back and looking at his erection thoughtfully. "What ever will we do now?" Rising from the bed she placed the key to the handcuffs in his hands and walked over to her dresser. She slid up onto the top and slipped her hand down between her thighs, in a moment she was moaning and panting, on the edge of her own release.

He had been frantically trying to get the handcuffs off to get to her, when she spoke between moans. "If you can get over here before I come, I'll let you fuck me any way you want. If, oh, if you don't make it then…oh.." her voice trailed off as her head went back lost in her own pleasure. The sounds that she was making were making him insane. Without thinking he lit up and popped across the room, leaving the bed and the handcuffs behind. Before she knew what was happening he had her flipped around and he was buried inside her just as she peaked. He rode out her orgasm pumping hard into her as she pulsated around him chanting his name over and over again. He saw her face locked in ecstasy in the mirror on the dresser and pushed his body harder to keep that look on her face. She was radiant and he wanted it to last forever. His hand moved down to caress her as she had done just a moment before and she exploded again, rocking back against him mindless now, begging him not to stop, to never stop.

_I don't ever want to stop, now it's was too late to tell her._ The lemon juice had weakened him too much to teleport away from his captors and no one knew where he was, not even Pam. Sookie had told him on the kitchen the night they had met some of the benefits that could be shared between them if they exchanged blood. As attracted to her as he had been then, and in the days that followed he had hesitated to take that step. Another regret that it was too late to do anything about.

If he had not been so reserved, so cautious, they would have shared blood and she would be able to track him now. He could have given her the gift of the sun that Sookie told him she had shared with Eric. He had been a fool. A slow stupid old fool to not listen to his heart rather this his brain. At the time, he had written it off as his cock talking, and thought that he was making the best decision for them both. He had just met Pam, their relationship wasn't like Sookie and Eric's. She had wanted him since she was old enough to even know what that meant. He had watched her struggle with it for years, even when they had been together. When he had finally seen them together he knew that at long last she had what she had been waiting for, and she hadn't been afraid to give herself over to it. He had held back with Pam thinking it was too new to make that kind of commitment. The future was too uncertain for them. She might not want to be tied to him with blood.

_I am a fool, a thought again. I am so sorry, Pam, for so many things._

Someone jerked the bag off his head and blinked, trying to see his captors. The juice had burned his eyes and they wouldn't focus but he recognized Coleman, his driver and he could tell that there were two humans in the room as well.

"He's perfect," one of the humans said. "So pretty and famous. We'll show them once and for all what these bastards really are!"

"Yeah!" the second one chimed in coming closer to Alcide. "Show me your pretty ears, pretty boy. Show me those fangs you keep hidden! I want to see them up close for myself before we show the world what stars your kind really are!"_ Is this guy kidding?_ Alcide thought just seconds before he felt the human push a fresh lemon wedge into his mouth. He tried to scream around it but found that trying to pull the air only pulled the juice down into his throat and lungs, setting him on fire from the inside out. _So, sorry Pam,_ he thought again, barely hanging on to consciousness, seeing her beautiful face in his mind as she smiled her seductive smiles at him._ So, sorry._

Distantly, he felt someone else enter the room. _Vampire_.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she screamed. "You will kill him if you keep this up!"

"We want to see his ears," one of the humans told her.

"If you don't get that fucking lemon out of his mouth I will rip yours off!" A second vampire entered the room then and made a beeline for him.

"Stop!" the female yelled, grabbing him by the arm. "You've had enough fairy blood tonight, William!"

"NO! I WANT MORE!" he was struggling. She sighed in frustration as the male fought her grasp. Guess I am not the only one having a tough night, Alcide thought.

"William, as you maker I command you to not attack a fairy or drink from one again, ever." He slumped in her grasp.

"Ever?" he sounded like a small petulant child. His maker didn't answer, dropping him to the floor in disgust.

"I told you to get that fucking lemon of his mouth. If I say it again, I am going to kill you all and take it out my fucking self. People want to talk to him, he has vital information that he will not be able to share if you damage his ability to speak!"

"Hey, what do guys mean, 'enough fairy blood for one night'? And what's with this 'as your maker, shit?" If he hadn't been in so much pain he would have laughed. _You assholes did say you wanted to see some fangs. _ "I don't know what kind of weird shit you're into but we just want to show the world that the Fae are not what they claim to be." The human was backing away now, as the female got closer to him. He heard her fangs snap down.

"Yes, I am well aware of what The Iron Fist wants, and my master has promised you may have it, AFTER he has had a chance to question the prisoner." Coleman, who had been quiet up to now finally spoke.

"You will have to glamour them, vampire." The female turned to him.

"You don't tell me what to do, fairy."

"Maybe not, but unless you want vampires to become the second check box on The Fist's to do list, you need to do some damage control, now."

"VAMPIRES? HOLY FUCK! VAMPIRES ARE REAL, TOO?" The humans were scrambling to escape the room now, Alcide and his pointy ears forgotten completely. Unfortunately the lemon wedge had been forgotten as well. He could feel his tongue and lungs burning away as he saw the shadowy figure of the female move across the room and grab the humans and then things slowed down again.

"Look into my eyes…" her voice faded away as the room lit up and in slow motion with his bleary vision he saw the cavalry arrive, a single thought rising as he gave in and let the darkness take him away.

_Finally._


	22. Decisions

The Big Bang- Decisions

Before the light had cleared Eric knew there were two humans, two vampires, and two fairies present, and then he was in motion toward Compton who was prostrate on the floor. He had just reached out to pull him up when Lorena attacked him from behind. Dropping Compton he turned and removed her head, barely slowing to register her body disintegrating. He had known her before, in another life and knew that even if she had information she would not give it up as easily as Compton would.

When he released Compton he had gone straight for Pam who was focused on Alcide. He caught her just as she got to him and knocked her across the room and into the fairy that Eric had sensed. At that moment Hamilton's gun went off and the missed the fairy that Pam had just knocked down, hitting her instead. Compton was on her again in a minute screaming about the demise of his maker, blood tears coming down his face.

The humans saw this as their opportunity to escape, and turned to the door only to find Sookie there waiting for them.

"Not so fast, boys." One of them still held the majority of the lemon that he had used on Alcide, and he quickly brought it up and sprayed it directly in her face. She raised her hand quickly, using the air to form a shield that protected most of her, but she had been a little slow and some of it had gotten through, landing on her face, blisters forming immediately. She did not scream or drop her shield, but Eric sensing her agony was distracted. Coleman who had thrown off Pam's limp form, took his chance pulling a wooden stake from his pocket and moving to stand behind Eric, poised to strike.

Through her agony Sookie saw Eric's attention on her rather than Coleman and cried out, "Behind you!" Eric turned in time to avoid a heart strike but still Coleman was still able to bury that stake in his shoulder. Eric's roar filled the room as he attacked Coleman, fangs out, going for the throat. The terrified humans screamed when they saw Eric's fangs and started yelling about vampires again. Knowing she needed to end this quickly, Sookie removed the air from their lungs forcing them to unconsciousness, then she moved to Compton who was sitting on Pam punching her over and over screaming about Lorena.

"She was my maker, bitch! How dare you take her from me!"

"Pain" Sookie said touching his shoulder and sending him into screaming convulsions before turning back to Coleman. Eric had him by the throat now and she could sense that Coleman was about to teleport away and take Eric with him. They were next to Alcide who had what appeared to be a lemon wedge in this mouth. In a blink of an eye, just as Coleman was starting to light up she teleported the lemon from Alcide's mouth to Coleman's. His light was immediately replaced by muffled screams as he jerked in Eric's hand, the pain rendering him helpless.

"Check Pam," Eric ground out, dropping Coleman and falling to a knee, blood loss from his wound making him too weak to stand. Pam by this time was sitting up and starting to crawl toward Alcide, leaving a trail of blood behind her on the floor from the gunshot. Seeing Pam moving Sookie went immediately to Eric.

"Drink," she told him and he allowed her to pull him to her neck, resting there a moment before taking her offering to heal himself. When he pulled back her saw the blisters on her beautiful face from the lemons and rage filled him. Taking some of the blood from his shirt her rubbed it on the wounds and watched as they healed, sighing as he felt her relief in the bond.

Hamilton was still standing exactly where he had been when he shot Pam, frozen by his own error, and also by the speed and ferocity of what had just happened before him. He had never seen vampire fight before. He had not been prepared for the speed of viciousness of their attack.

"Alcide!" Pam gasped as she finally reached his side and saw that he was barely alive, part of his handsome face eaten away from the lemon juice. Immediately she tore her wrist open and tried to feed him, but he was too far gone to swallow and her blood ran out and down his chest. "Come on! Don't do this! Drink, goddamnit! Don't you bail on me. Drink you fucking coward! Drink and live!"

"Pam! Pam, stop. He's too weak to drink we need to get him home, we can care for him there." Sookie tried to calm her, sensing that Alcide was fading fast.

"No, I will not give him up! I won't!" Frantically, she pulled at his restraints in an effort to get him on the floor so that she could pour more blood into his mouth. She got him lose and had him laid on the ground when Eric spoke.

"Pam, it's too late." She screamed then, denying the loss and refusing to accept it.

"Then I will turn him! I won't let him die, not like this, not now! It's too soon for me to lose him!"

"Is that what he would want?" Eric asked Pam as he looked to Sookie to see if she thought this was the right thing to do.

"I don't give a fuck what he wants, it's what I am going to do! I can save him!" she latched onto his neck then and started to drain him. Her action broke Hamilton from his freeze.

"Stop! Whatever you are doing just stop, ok?" he was hysterical as he leveled his gun at her ready to take another shot. Eric was on him before he could pull the trigger, tossing the gun away and restraining him from interrupting what Pam was attempting. He again looked to Sookie for reassurance that Pam was making the right decision. That this would work.

"I don't know that it will work," she told him her voice uncertain for the first time since he had met her, "but if it were me, I would want you to try, Eric." He nodded and they watched as Pam came up, her fangs covered in blood and tore her wrist open again.

"Drink damn you, drink!" she screamed at him, working his throat muscles to get the blood down. After a few moments he started to swallow on his own, bringing his hands up to hold her wrist in place as he gulped her blood. She laughed then, stroking his hair back from his forehead gently, whispering words of encouragement to him as he drank.

"Stop! Please don't do this!" Hamilton screamed twisting uselessly in Eric's grasp. "You're making him a monster like you are! This is your fault!" he turned his blazing eyes to Sookie. "You did this! You brought them here! It's because of you-" Eric knocked him out then with a punch to the face before letting him fall to the ground.

Pam, weak from her wound and from giving Alcide so much of her blood passed out then, and Eric moved forward to pull her wrist away from Alcide, who then lay still beside her. Standing he looked to Sookie and then surveyed the room around them. The humans, Compton and Coleman were all unconscious on the floor around them. He was about to ask her what she thought they should do next when he felt something ripple through the bond. His eyes turned back to her and he saw a look of absolute terror on her face for a second before she masked it, and tried to reassure him with a smile. She reached her hand out to him and he moved to her side instantly, pulling her into his arms.

"What is it? What's wrong, Sookie?"

"Promise me, promise me that you will fight, Eric. That no matter what you won't let them win! Promise me!" her body was now lighting up in his arms.

"What's going on, Sookie?" he was frantic now as he felt her start to disappear, he held on tighter, trying to go with her, but was unable. She kissed him then, holding his face in her hands for a moment before her caress was too light to feel.

"I love you, Eric," she whispered and then in a blinding flash of light she was gone. He was alone.


	23. Freefall

_A/N- I love you guys and I can't stand to leave you on the edge of the cliffie. Please, put your iron frying pans away and forgive me for the ending of the last chapter. It's 2AM where I am right now so technically, it's Monday. Hope you enjoy!_

_hugs :)_

**The Big Bang- Freefall**

Eric was too stunned to move. He wanted to call out for her, but he could tell that she was gone. Their bond told him so. He latched onto it the moment she disappeared and at first he felt her far away and to the south and then a moment later she was gone. He couldn't feel her at all, there was just an empty place where she had been.

It was as though she were dead.

_No, I won't accept that. _

He shoved that thought away and mentally started running through where he might look for her and who he might call for help in finding her. Alcide was at the top of the list, and at this moment, Alcide was dead on the floor behind him.

_First things first,_ he heard her in his mind, though he knew that he was supplying her voice as his reason. A trick to make her still feel close by. A trick that he needed right now to get himself moving. First things first, I have to heal Pam and then get her and Alcide in the ground. The change might not take but to have any chance at all he needed to move now.

He clamped down on the screaming man inside him, the one that sounded like he was dying, and slowly moved to Pam, giving her the blood she needed to take her beloved to ground. As soon as she was on her feet they discussed where he might take the prisoners for the day so that they could be integrated the next evening. Pam gave him the coordinates for a secondary residence that Alcide kept in Las Vegas, like the one Sookie had put her up in when she visited Oklahoma. There was a fenced in backyard there that she and Alcide could go to ground in as well.

Eric left her there with the prisoners and took to the sky to find transportation. He stole a van from a nearby church and hotwired it, and broke into a hardware store for some iron ten penny nails and duct tape. Then he took a brief detour into a strip store where he smashed the glass counter and liberated some silver chains. He knew that there would be barely enough time to get to the safe house and bury Pam and Alcide before the sun rose. As long as he was inside he would be fine, Sookie had just fed him, he should be good to for a couple of hours at least past sunrise, maybe longer.

First things first…

Pam tried to talk to him as they drove, asking where Sookie was and what had happened but he didn't answer her. He didn't know what to tell her, and rather than risk losing his thin thread of control and forgetting that first things come first, he remained silent.

He hid the van in the two car garage that was attached to the house and buried Pam and Alcide in the yard. He took the prisoners in, having removed the lemon from Coleman before securing the van leaving him damaged but not critical. Hamilton had started to revive in the van, but Pam had knocked him out again. Neither the humans nor Compton had recovered yet from what Sookie had done to them. Compton had bled from every orifice and was a mess, but that was about to be the least of his worries.

Eric took them all to the basement, first covering the windows with the drapes from above, and then secured Compton by wrapping several of the chains around his hands and feet then covering those with duct tape. Then he secured Hamilton and Coleman the same way, using the duct tape to hold the iron nails to their flesh before sitting them on the floor in a semicircle. He only used duct tape on the humans, knowing it would be more than adequate to hold them until he decided how best to use them and placed them off to the side against the wall. Last, he brought a chair down from upstairs, placed it in the center of the circle and flipped it around to straddle it as he waited.

Within in moments the smell of burning flesh filled the basement and each of his prisoners began to moan in pain. He waited and listened to their pain, noting from a detached perspective how their external screams seem to echo his own internal screaming.

It was like a symphony of pain, and he its conductor.

As they became more lively, they started to speak to him, to beg, but he sat there, still as only a vampire can, not so much as even blinking. It was Compton who began to beg first.

"Eric, please. Remove the silver and I will tell you anything you want to know!"

"Thut uk," Coleman screamed at Bill around his wounded mouth.

"Fuck you! Eric, take the silver off and I will tell you everything I know. Please." Eric's eyes flicked to Compton, and Coleman began to struggle. That told him that Compton knew something that could be of use. He spoke for the first time since Sookie had disappeared from his arms.

"What makes you think I am interested in anything you have to say, Compton?"

"Wh- What do you mean? Why put me in silver if you don't want me to talk?"

"You assume that silver is all I have planned for you." Eric's voice was so calm and steady that all his prisoners actually stopped writhing and screaming feeling a chill of terror pass down their spines.

"But, if you kill me you will never know-"

"What makes you think I care? What makes you think I plan to do anything other than chop you into little pieces and leave you for the rats to find, Bill?"

"Because I know-"

"I thaid thut uk, amire!" Coleman cut him off again.

"Because I know things, Eric! Things you need to know!"

"I know the only thing I need to know already."

"W-what do you mean?"

Eric rose at vamp speed and appeared right before Bill, making him jerk back in surprise and fear. "I know," he said ripping off Compton's right index finger and shoving it into his mouth, "that I would be at home right now, with the woman I love, if you hadn't decided to kidnap the King of Nevada tonight." He was speaking in a conversational tone, perfectly calm and icy, his voice never rising. When Bill screamed again, Eric rolled his eyes and smiled as if he had just told a joke and then he ripped off two more fingers, using the bloody stub to draw on Bill's face, the same designs that he had painted on Logan's walls just hours before. He was feeling creative.

"We took him! We took him," Bill screamed at the top of his lungs, "because Niall told us to! Niall told us, too! Oh, fuck it hurts, please stop! Niall told us to do it!"

"I. DON'T. CARE!" Eric roared in his face, the windows in the basement vibrated with the force of his scream.

"But you will, you will, I swear! Niall told us to take him so The Fist could deliver him to A Sky Full of Stars and expose the Albho agenda to the world! It was two birds with one stone he said! Taking out the lieutenant of the Albho, giving The Fist the boost they needed to amplify the Ciar agenda. Oh, please, please, please, please Eric, stop! Please stop!"

"Albho? Ciar?" Eric repeated his eyebrow rising, indicating that he did not understand.

"Yes! You know, Eric. The two fairy factions, the Albho want to exterminate the human race and take away our food source and the Ciar want to save this world! They want to find a peaceful resolution and change this world for the better! You know, Eric! You've allied yourself with the Albho, though maker knows why! Don't you understand what will happen if they win? Eric please, stop this and we can go to Niall together! It's not too late for you to join us and stop this war from happening!"

Eric moved closer now, leaning down to whisper conspiratorially with Compton, "Where does The Iron Fist fit into this?"

Compton tried to whisper back but made a bad job of it, he was nearly delirious with pain, "The Ciar use vampire to run as intermediary and feed the Albho to them They are a tool to dwindle down enemy ranks," he groaned then. "Niall says that if we can take out Nevada and Oklahoma that the movement will falter and the war will be all but won!" Compton started giggling then, a pitched sound that made him sound like he had come unhinged. Eric stuffed one of the extra silver chains into Bill's mouth and sealed it shut with duct tape muffling his screams. Then he turned to the humans in the corner. One of them had wet himself during Bill's confessional.

He quickly glamoured them into revealing that Compton's version of events was accurate, however they knew nothing of the Albho and Ciar, only that they were planning to take Alcide to A Sky Full of Stars and reveal the true face of the Fae to the world. Getting a pen and paper from upstairs he had them write down the names and addresses of The Fist members in their cell and then glamoured them to believe that Alcide had never shown up at the drop point and to return to their group none the wiser. He was about to release them when one of them, still in a hypnotic daze said, "I guess since the fairy never showed, we will have to go with Plan B."

"What's plan B?" Eric asked.

"They wouldn't tell us, in case we were caught, only that if we failed they would fall back to Plan B for the party."

"Go back and find out what Plan B is and then call me on this number." He gave him the number to his mobile, and then told him to forget it until he had something to report, and that he would not remember making the call once it was complete. Then he released the humans, knowing he needed additional information and that if he kept them Pam would kill them when she rose for what they had done to Alcide. She would forgive him, eventually. They still had Coleman.

Coleman.

Eric turned now, first things being taken care of. He could feel the sun rising, but felt no need to die yet.

_Love you, Sookie,_ he sent up a silent prayer for her and then pulled his chair to sit in front of Coleman. He leaned down and smiled at Coleman.

"Did you know about Plan B?" he asked in a deadly tone watching his eyes. He didn't expect him to say anything, but he could tell from his physiological reactions that he did in fact not know about Plan B."

"Oh, no! Has the dog turned and bitten the hand that feeds it? Tsk, tsk. That's what happens you know, you train them to be vicious and then one day, they turn on their masters. You're all the same to them, but you weren't smart enough to see that until just now were you?" Eric leaned back in chair and looked down at Coleman for a moment considering. "I bet you want to go warn Niall about Plan B, don't you , Coleman?" Coleman working hard to not show his pain as the iron worked its way into his already ravaged body narrowed his eyes at Eric but didn't speak. "I might let you do that, if you told where Sookie was. Do you know where she is, Coleman? If so, you will doing yourself the biggest favor in the world if you tell me." Coleman scoffed through his damaged mouth.

"Oh, but you see I am serious. If you don't tell me what I want to know you are going to die, the only question is how. I could kill you swiftly, or I could let Alcide do it when he wakes up." He smiled at Coleman now, fangs fully extended. "Ever see a newborn vampire feed on pure Fae blood, Coleman?" Eric shivered theatrically, "It's chilling stuff, even for me. Or," he stopped and seemed to be considering a new idea now, "I could let Pam turn you as we had to do Alcide." Coleman's eyes grew large at that threat. "Does that not appeal to you? Walking the night forever, your mistress will only take a few hundred years to forgive you for what you did to Alcide. She's soft that way." Leaning back in his chair he went on listing the benefits of being a vampire.

"Never see the sun again, drink warm hot blood every night, and oh, Coleman, we could send you to hunt your family. Imagine being under the command of your maker to drain everyone you…ever…loved!

"Yes, I like that! It would be, what was it Compton said earlier? Ah, yes, two birds, one stone. I choose option C, Coleman, how about you?" Eric was in his face now, being every bit the monster his maker had tried so long to make him be and finding it easier than he had ever imagined to fall into that darkness now that his light had been stolen from him. The loss of his anchor stone had sent him into freefall. All he had left was his promise to her, and if he could fulfill it in the most bloody and awful way possible to gain vengeance for her loss, so much the better.

Sookie, his mind whispered again, calling to her.

"Your wife?" Eric questioned leaning in and he saw it, Coleman did have a wife. "Children?" Oh, yes, those, too. "Two?" no, "Three? Ah, yes three, you would have no choice but to hunt them, and drink them, you would tear…them…to… shreds. Oh, you would hate yourself until that sweet, sweet Fae blood hit your tongue and then you would want to fuck their corpses as they turned to dust in your hands.

"I will take it all from you, as you have from me." He paused a moment then and let that sink in, and then he asked again. "Where. Is. Sookie?" Tears ran down Coleman's damaged face and Eric watched him break, cracking like a windshield, spidery veins running through him in slow motion until he whispered one word.

"Niall."

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_A/N the story that Compton told is the reverse of the truth, but it is what Niall had told him and Lorena and possibly other vampires to get them to work with the Ciar. It's not clear how many have been recruited to parlay with The Iron Fist on the Ciar's behalf. Clearly, this revised version of the truth to recruit their support opens the door to wonder who in addition to Bill and Lorena have been recruited._

_Hope this chapter answered some questions, and got the frying pans back in the cupboard where they belong :)._


	24. Acceptance

**The Big Bang- Acceptance**

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" Alcide's voice filled the house, rattling the windows with his rage. He had attacked Pam as soon as he rose, demanding an explanation. She had tried to reason with him, to explain, but he refused to listen and accept her answers. Eric was not without empathy. He had been locked in the same cycle of denial since Sookie had disappeared from his arms.

He had been the first to awaken, Pam shortly after, and during that time while they waited to see if Alcide had survived the change he filled her in on what he had learned from their prisoners. He had left her then, to wait alone, while he went to procure a meal for them all. It hadn't been too difficult, a few party girls at a casino, a little glamour, and it was like he had not spent the last month living another life, being another person.

He'd hated himself as he fed, as he tasted someone who wasn't Sookie and he fought the urge to rip her apart for disappointing him for not being her. Now, the five party girls sat quietly in the corner, dressed in sparkly gowns, glamoured completely out of their minds while Alcide screamed upstairs and Pam tried once again to reason with her fairy lover, now vampire.

Eric was not without empathy, but he was without patience. He zoomed up the stairs and ended the pointless quarrel, "ENOUGH!" Silence fell, "Pam, leave us." She wanted to argue but she was smart enough to realize that no matter how her heart was breaking there were things that needed to be done, and Eric had already shown a tremendous level of kindness and patience in letting her try for this long. Hanging her head she went downstairs to stand guard, hoping that Eric could get through to him.

Expecting a fight from his grandsire, Alcide bared his new fangs and crouched. Eric's words cut him to the bone, causing more damage than any blow could have.

"You promised her." Alcide jerked back. "That night when we met, you promised her that if she fell, you would fight on. Do you not remember giving her your word?"

Alcide snarled, "Of course I remember! I have known her a lot longer than you!"

"And that is what makes this so inexcusable."

"I didn't know that it would mean I would have to become _this_!"

_"This? This_ is what allows you to keep your word to her. You looked at me that night and saw not this but the man inside, and you recognized that I am more than _this_. I am more than vampire, remember?"

"Yes," Alcide dropped his head in shame remembering that night and his acknowledgement of the man and warrior that lived in the heart of Sookie's chosen.

"Then look inside and find the same man you were, and the promises you made. She has fallen. We all need you now more than ever. Can you do this for her, if not for yourself?"

"I'M SO FUCKING HUNGRY!" Alcide screamed again, blood tears running down his face. "I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE!"

"We will help you deal with the hunger, if you let us. We will help you, and then you will remember your word and help us, and everything else can wait. Either there will be time later, or we will lose and this…none of this will matter. Do you understand?" Alcide nodded, trying to rise, trying to be the man he knew they all needed him to be.

"Pam," Eric spoke in a normal voice, "bring two of the girls and care for your child."

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His hunger satiated for now, Alcide listened to Eric recount what had happened since he had arrived in Nevada. "Blood magic," Alcide spoke when he was done. "That's how Sookie followed Compton using Logan's blood and I think that is how Niall took her. Fairies are all tied together by the blood in their veins. Family calls to family, blood to blood. I think Niall teleported her away through their connection in the blood."

"The blood. It all comes back to that doesn't it?" Eric asked no one in particular, his mind spinning a thousand miles an hour. "But if she were in Louisiana I would still feel her. I thought for a second I did, and then she was gone. Why can't I feel her if he only called her to New Orleans?" Alcide shrugged.

"Perhaps he is blocking the tie. Perhaps he took her back to the Fae realm. Would you be able to feel her in another dimension?" Eric's turn to shrug.

"There is no way to know." Alcide chuckled grimly.

"Yeah, we're breaking new ground all over place now, aren't we?" he hesitated a moment. "What about me? What does it mean that I am now vampire?" Eric looked at him in askance.

"You tell me, Nevada. What can you do now besides drink blood?" Alcide rolled his eyes in disgust a moment and then closed them, concentrating. Slowly, he started to light up, like he had before and then he popped from one side of the living room to the other. For a moment his old familiar smile graced his face and Pam felt her undead heart lurch. He felt her joy in the bond they now shared, would share for all of eternity, and the smile faded immediately.

"I was Earth Fae before, I could tap the earth itself and channel it's power." Eric's heart broke a little more as his words summoned the image of Sookie with the Were she had brought back. Pushing it back, he rose.

"Show me." They all moved outside and watched as Alcide knelt to the ground and summoned his power, soon he was enveloped in a glow, that again called to mind the image of his beloved. Alcide approached him then and reached out to take his hand, the glow moving up Eric's arm as well.

"You have had her blood." It was a statement and Eric waited to see if Alcide could find her through the blood they share. Taking Eric's other hand he pulled him into his the vision that he was seeing as he searched for Sookie. Around him Eric saw the strings of creation glowing again, moving past so quickly it was like he and Alcide were disembodied and flying through them. _Sookie_, his mind called out, the bond reaching for her as well.

Suddenly, the stopped a wall of green energy before them. "The border to the Fae realm," he heard Alcide tell him, distantly, back in the place where their physical bodies still stood, clasping hands.

"Is she there?" Eric demanded. Alcide tried to move forward but was pushed back the wall.

"I can no longer cross," Alcide's voice was filled with pain at being denied entrance to his true home. Eric, feeling his own pain, pushed his disembodied spirit at the wall, ramming into it.

"Sookie!" he screamed, as he hit the wall over and over. He felt Alcide's energy flow around him, attempting to calm and comfort, though his own pain was great.

"I am not surprised that vampire can't cross to Fae."

"But they can! I know they can! Sookie told me!" he felt Alcide's shock at this information.

"Then perhaps it must be a physical crossing, or perhaps there is another magic at work here. I only know that she is not on this plain. I cannot tell if she there, and we cannot cross, at least not now." Slowly, he returned Eric and himself to their physical bodies, both falling to their knees from the weight of re-entry. Pam was at their sides at once asking what happened, trying to help them both stand.

Rage filled Alcide to see her again, what she had done to him was unforgivable. She made a choice for him that he would not have made, and then right on the heels of that came Eric's words. You promised her. He felt the rage recede a little and rather than shove her away he accepted her hand. She smiled at him tentatively and he did not return it. She nodded, understanding that they were united in common purpose only and that she had lost him forever by choosing to turn him rather than let him die.

Eric, feeling the pain of his child's heart break tried to get everyone back on track. "Show me your vampire gifts." A moment later Alcide was on the other side of the yard, taking a deep breath of night air, and coming back at the same high speed to tell him what was happening within a mile of their location. Heightened senses and speed, in addition to the retention of his fairy gifts made him a formidable enemy and valuable ally. Eric clasped his arm in a sign of union and brotherhood and they returned inside the house to plan their next move.

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After Alcide had fed from the third girl, they released them waving at them as they drove away, laughing and happy, glamoured to remember the best party they had ever been to, and forgetting how to get back to where it had taken place. They returned to the basement and surveyed their prisoners.

"I saved Compton for you, child," Eric whispered to her. He and Alcide took Coleman and Hamilton upstairs to give her an opportunity to vent her pain and frustration in private. Seating the still bound fairies upstairs, Alcide removed Hamilton's tape and iron nails. His wounds were severe, but once the iron was removed he was able to sit and listen as they told him of the Ciar and the Albho and the battle that had been going on around him for the past few years. Eric was barely listening as Alcide filled him in, lost in the realization that iron no longer affected Alcide at all. He was also largely unaffected by the free flowing Fae blood that filled the room, displaying only a few of the signs one would expect from a newborn around any blood at all. Eric glanced down at his own ring that still protected him.

_Wonder how he will handle sunlight?_

Eric did notice that Coleman was paying close attention to what Alcide had to say and slowly his anger turned to misery as he realized that he had been misled by Niall as to what was really going on. Eric moved toward him and removed the tape and nails from him as well, relieving his agony and giving him a chance to sit up and speak through his still wounded mouth.

"I int o," he managed to get out, gaze on the floor. "Niall ai otect amily." _ I didn't know. Niall said I was protecting my family_. Eric looked to Alcide.

"His wife Claudine is Niall's granddaughter, Sookie's cousin."

"And they have three children," Eric finished, making Coleman jerk his eyes from the floor back up to lock with his.

Just then from the basement Compton let out a blood curdling scream, and through the bond Eric and Alcide felt a rush of bloodlust that made them aroused and excited. They both wanted to be in that basement with her, bathing in Compton's blood. Eric was old enough to hold himself back with minimal effort, but Alcide was a newborn and his drive was overwhelming. Eric nodded at him, releasing him to go the Pam's side.

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Alcide entered the basement just as Pam removed Compton's head and threw it across the room, she was holding the chains that had been used to restrain him in her hands letting them burn her flesh, hoping the physical pain would relieve the emotional pain that traveled through her in unstoppable waves. She had lost everything. Everything! And then she sensed her everything standing behind her.

She turned, grasping the chain and pulling it through her other hand slowly, letting it burn away her skin. The pain added to her bloodlust and her arousal as she looked on her heart's desire, two feet away and unreachable. He was shaking with need and for a moment she wondered if she had it in herself to do this for him, to ease his ache and keep her heart tucked away because this wasn't about hearts, this was about bodies and what they need.

_I can do this. It's the least I can do for him, after everything I have done to him. _

She went to him, and as soon as their lips crashed they were both lost in the moment. He flipped her around and jerked her clothes off, burying himself inside her, thrusting hard, punishing her and himself for not being able to control this feeling that brought them crashing together. His hands tangled in her hair pulling her neck aside, and he buried his face there while he continued to fuck her deep and hard.

"I loved you!" he sobbed in to her neck. She cried out in response to his words, tears flowing down her face at his reminder of what she had lost. She held the silver tighter in her hand as his words burned her more than silver ever could. "I trusted you!" he spat, pounding into her now, her body peaking around him, but he refused to surrender to his release. He wasn't done with her yet. "You were my friend, and my mate," he ground out through a locked jaw, speaking over her screaming out her orgasm and he thrust harder still. "Now I am a monster, and you…you are my sister, my mother, my maker! You were everything to me, and now, now you are nothing!" he screamed into her neck just seconds before he buried his fangs in her flesh, drinking her down as he reached his release, taking her with him again, despite the anger that filled his words and the pain that ripped at her heart.

He released her neck and held her a moment, remembering before pushing her away and stepped back. She turned to face him, her face and clothes ravaged, blood tears on her cheeks. "You're still everything to me," she whispered. He stood there a moment not moving or speaking and then he reached out and took the silver chains from her burning hands, holding them a moment, noticing that they did not burn him as they did her. Then he dropped them to the floor and turned around and walked slowly back upstairs.

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It was a big house, but it wasn't big enough to prevent everyone in it from hearing and knowing what had just happened. Eric had felt it with them and had to step into another room to fight the bloodlust and rage that was pounding through his system as they fucked loudly downstairs.

He wanted to kill everyone in that house, and everything outside of it in that moment. It was his nature to bring death and he longed to stop fighting what he had been fighting since she left him. The twisted humor of his whole life swept through him in that moment and he leaned against the kitchen counter laughing insanely. Appius had never broken him, never even came close, but the loss of one little fairy woman that he had known for a month had done what Appius had never been able to do.

It was never about hate, it was about love. It was about love, and what in the wake of losing that love you allowed yourself to become. _ I am using this for an excuse, and trying to numb my pain by doing the kinds of things that she would hate me for because I want to punish her. As if she chose to leave me. _

In that moment of clarity he realized that if he didn't get his shit together he was headed down the path of Appius, only he would put his maker to shame at the things he would and could do the wring his vengeance from this pitiful world and its occupants. She might no longer be here, but he could make them all bleed in payment for her loss. He could pile the horror and the terror so fucking high that someone would return her to him. Some deity would see the mountain of corpses and the river of blood that he would reap until she was ransomed back, and then, then he could punish her for letting herself be taken in the first place.

"_Promise me, promise me that you will fight, Eric. That no matter what you won't let them win! Promise me!"_

"Damn you, woman," he muttered, clenching his fists as he heard her last words to him. "Damn you for making me be a better man that I want to be right now!"

He sensed Alcide coming back upstairs, and stood, forcing all his crazy back down into the darkest corners of his mind. _ I will keep my word to you, and spend all my nights trying to get back to you, but you better keep your word to me, too, or there will be hell to pay, and I will be the ringleader. The Ciar hasn't even dreamed of the kind of pain and darkness I will rain down on them if you don't come back to me,_ he swore to himself and to her and to anyone who was listening.

Then he went back to business. Entering the living room where Hamilton and Coleman were seated he pulled up a chair close them and said, "I'll make you a deal."


	25. Interception

_Previously on The Big Bang…_

_He [Eric] was about to ask her what she thought they should do next when he felt something ripple through the bond. His eyes turned back to her and he saw a look of absolute terror on her face for a second before she masked it, and tried to reassure him with a smile. She reached her hand out to him and he moved to her side instantly, pulling her into his arms._

_"What is it? What's wrong, Sookie?"_

_"Promise me, promise me that you will fight, Eric. That no matter what you won't let them win! Promise me!" her body was now lighting up in his arms._

_"What's going on, Sookie?" he was frantic now as he felt her start to disappear, he held on tighter, trying to go with her, but was unable. She kissed him then, holding his face in her hands for a moment before her caress was too light to feel. _

_"I love you, Eric," she whispered and then in a blinding flash of light she was gone. He was alone._

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**The Big Bang- Interception**

_Oh, Sookie, you fucked up._

It was the only thought running through her mind over and over from the moment she had faded away from Eric. She saw it all in an instant and she had been so wrong. She thought that Niall would keep playing shadow games with her until she got to the gala that was only a few days away. She thought she would face him then and let the chips fall where they may. She thought she had time.

But Niall wasn't going to wait.

_Oh, Sookie you fucked up._

She felt him summoning her in her blood, and there was nothing she could do but let him take her. She could fight when she arrived, and she would right to her last breath, her last drop of blood, but she could not deny the pull of her kin, especially one as ancient and powerful as her grandfather. As part of mind chastised her arrogance and short sightedness she was changing in transit. The purple glow that surrounded her lasted for seconds before she started to materialize in the New Orleans offices of Dreamscapes Unlimited, but the Sookie that left Nevada was not the one that arrived. In those seconds she had called her swords to her and she landed in battle crouch ready to meet her death in trying to cause Niall's.

He was standing before her, unarmed and was about to say something to her when she felt herself being teleported again, called by the blood in her veins. She had a moment to see the surprise on Niall's face and then she was lost in the purple again. When she landed this time, still in a battle stance and ready to start cutting she found herself in Fae, face to face with her grandmother Morgana and Pythia, the Ancient Pythoness.

"Lower you blades child, we mean you no harm," Morgana came forward to embrace her tightly. "I have missed you," she whispered in Sookie's hair before she released her, letting Pythia take her turn.

"Welcome, Sookie," Pythia said holding her close for a moment before stepping back.

"What just happened?" Sookie asked, re-sheathing her blades and looking around, not quite out of battle mode yet.

"Niall summoned you, and we intercepted."

"But how? How could you take me from him?" Morgana smiled.

"Niall's isn't the only blood in your veins, my dear."

"But, he is stronger than you, and you know it." Pythia smiled.

"Yes, but he isn't stronger than both of us, and as Morgana said, his isn't the only the blood in your veins now."

"What do you mean?"

"Now, in addition to Morgana, and Niall, you have mine as well," Pythia explained, smiling at her god-daughter.

"What? The only other blood I have had is Er-" she stopped then, her eyes growing large.

"Yes, The Viking is the third generation of my line," Pythia confirmed her realization. Sookie felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. All of the stories they had told her, and not once had this been mentioned. Eric was the direct line progeny of Pythia. Her mind started whirling as she tried to work out what that might mean, why they hadn't told her before, and just why in the hell they were telling her now.

"I saw this long ago, child. I knew that Niall would try and take you from Eric and I knew that we had to be ready. I came to Fae and Morgana and I prepared the necessary magics to pull you here and keep him from following until we had a chance to speak."

"There is more?" Sookie asked, her shock evident in her tone.

"Much more and we have little time to cover it all. Come, there are things that must be done first."

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Sookie could feel her power restoring the longer the stayed in Fae. It was one of the reasons that they all had to come home from time to time. Her last visit had been long ago, and when she had channeled the energy of the earth to save the Were she had given too much of herself. She knew she should have come home then, but she couldn't risk it. There was too great a danger of being trapped here, and too much that still needed to be done. Those were the practical reasons, but the big truth under them was that she had not wanted to leave Eric.

Morgana sat her on comfortable chair on one of the palace balconies and handed her a glass of water from the sacred springs of Fae that ran under the Palace of Aeon. They held restorative powers that would boost her strength and help her heal faster while she was here. She drank it greedily, taking the glass in several gulps. The taste reminded her of Eric's ancient and powerful blood. He had been supporting her waning energy for weeks, and she had been about to tell him that she had over extended herself in reviving the Were, when they had responded to Pam's call in their bond.

She had tried to hide it, but he knew her too well and was tied to her too tightly for that ruse to be successful. She knew he was worried, but she kept telling herself that his blood would do the trick, she just needed to rest. She justified this to herself because there was nothing more than he could do that share his blood. She saw no point in adding to his worries .

"More," she asked them passing back the empty glass and reaching eagerly for the next, continuing to gulp, her mind a jumble of thoughts.

_Oh, Sookie, you fucked up._

She came to realize just how far gone when she was on her fourth glass and felt herself start to level out. _I should have told him. I would have been so mad at him if he had kept something like this from me._ There was a lot she had to make up for, and now that was back to her old self she didn't plan to keep him waiting for the explanations and apologies that he had coming. Setting the now empty glass on the table near her she turned to Morgana and Pythia and waited for them speak.

"I saw you, child, when you killed and then resurrected the Were. It was a vision that granted to me a thousand years ago, before you were even born, and one that I have never forgotten. You were beautiful," Pythia's voice was filled with emotion, and Morgana reached out to take her hand and squeeze it gently, offering her vampire sister her support as she worked to find the voice to continue.

"But that means," Sookie said, picking up the thread, "that this was always going to happen, just like this and you always knew," her voice was filled with awe and some trace of recrimination. "Why didn't you stop it before it got this far?"

"The greatest curse I have is not to see the future, it is to know that some horrible things must happen and that I must let them." Morgana squeezed her hand again.

"But why? You could have saved so many lives that have already been lost!" Pythia shook her head.

"No, my dear. But I don't expect you to understand. You see from one set of eyes, one perspective. I see from many at all times. I see not only the things that were, are and might be, I see the end of each thread once the course if locked in. As horrible as this is, you will have to trust me that this thread is the only hope that any of us have. You are the only hope that any of us have."

_No pressure, Sookie,_ she thought.

"What must I do?" she asked, accepting again as she had before that this battle would take her life and she would consider it worth it, well worth it. Before either Morgana or Pythia could answer there was a loud thunderous noise that rolled through all of Fae. It was like a fist knocking on a door, it was like thunder telling of an oncoming storm. "Niall!" Sookie jumped up and drew her swords again. Pythia laughed.

"No, child, that is The Viking, calling you home."

"Eric?" she asked looking up at the noise rolling through the sky as if she could see him or he could hear her.

"Yes, he has come with Alcide to find you and can't cross the barrier that we erected to keep Niall out."

"Eric," she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes as she saw the image of him in her mind. The thunderstorm the first night he came to Oklahoma, the first dawn when he saw the sun for the first time in a thousand years and she felt something in the middle of her crack open and bleed. She needed to get back to him.

"He is filled with rage and great pain at your loss," Pythia told her.

"I need to get back to him! Now!" she turned to them ready to go.

"And you will child but first we must make sure that Niall can't pull this trick again. Morgana rose then and came to Sookie.

"Turn around," she said, " and lower your top." Sookie quickly did as she asked, anything to get back to Eric. She felt Morgana place her hand on her shoulder and then there was pain. So much pain that she fell to her knees and screamed, filling the sky as Eric had just moments before. When she pulled her hand back from Sookie's skin there was a runic symbol burned into her flesh. "This marking will prevent Niall from being able to sense you in his blood. You must let it heal before sharing blood with your Viking again, otherwise his blood will remove the mark." Sookie nodded, and pulled her shirt back over the mark, wincing slightly as it rubbed the mark and the sensitized flesh around it.

Pythia leaned forward then and began to speak in earnest. "You must listen to what I am about to tell you, Sookie. Everything will hang in the balance and depend on how well you listen and prepare for what is to come." She spoke quickly, and Sookie forced her need for Eric back so she could listen. Her eyes grew large and she shook her head several times in denial of the things that she was told, but by the end she understood what had to be done and she was ready to do it.

"We will see you soon, Sookie. You and Eric both. Be ready." Sookie nodded and hugged both of the women who had raised her, knowing that she would see them at least one more time before this was over.

"I love you," she told them both, kissing each woman on the cheek softly before stepping back and nodding to them. "I'm ready now." They smiled back at her and clasped hands to support each other as they watched her disappear back to the other realm, back to her Viking and the days of what must come.

"We did all we could," Pythia reassured Morgana, squeezing her hand gently. Morgana nodded, tears running down her face.

"I know, I know. I just hope it was enough." Pythia did not reply. Threads shifted all the time, and despite the best laid plans, sometimes things did not go the way you hoped. There was nothing they could do now but wait and see.

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Time moves more quickly in Fae than on the earthly realm. What had been a brief time for Sookie had been two nights for Eric. He had offered Hamilton and Coleman a chance to spy for the Albho, which had been endorsed by Alcide, who regardless of his current status as vampire, was still the Fae King of Nevada. Coleman, realizing what would happen to this world and its residents and the error that he had made in trusting the very man who was threatening his family had agreed to spy for them.

Hamilton, confronted with his beloved King now made vampire had been slower to come around. Eventually though, Coleman and Alcide both had helped him to see that this was the result of Niall and the Ciar and while it may not be something that Hamilton was comfortable with, there were worse fates awaiting many others in this world if Niall succeeded. "I will fight with you, my King, until I can avenge what has befallen you by stopping Niall, The Iron Fist and the Ciar. You have my loyalty until that is done. I swear this on my blood."

"That's the spirit!" Eric said slapping him on the back, harder than necessary but his whiney ass had plucked Eric's last nerve over the past hour. "Swear it on the blood! We'll make a vampire out of you, yet!" He couldn't resist pulling his chain.

"Not fucking likely," Hamilton had shot back at him. Turning to Pam and Alcide he made a decision that he knew neither one of them was going to like very much.

"Pam, you will remain here with Alcide." She said nothing, she had expected it.

"Now wait-" Alcide tried to override him but he was done babysitting.

"The decision is made. I order it as her maker, and you need her here as yours. With Sookie gone, I am now in charge of this fight from her front, and I want Pam here to help you through your adjustments so that you remain a viable leader on the second front. This is not open for discussion." Alcide growled at him, dropping fang.

Eric raised an eyebrow at him, conveying his opinion of Alcide's baby fangs without having to speak a word. Alcide put his fangs away. Eric then turned to Coleman. "What is the most effective way to return you to the fold? Should we heal you?" Coleman thought it over and nodded. Eric moved closer and opened his wrist, offering it to Coleman, who took a deep breath and swallowed. After two sips, Eric pulled back and watched the effects on Coleman's ravaged face. He was healed in minutes. "I can feel you now, Coleman. If you fuck with us, I will make good on my threats. Do you understand?"

"I understand that you would enjoy killing my family," Coleman spat back at him, rage showing in his eyes.

"No," Eric corrected shaking his head. "I would enjoy making you do it." Coleman shivered again.

"I will keep my word, vampire. See that you do." Coleman then lit up and teleported away. Eric felt him move south and stay fixed. We will see, he thought turning back to Alcide.

"Can a vampire get a lift back to Oklahoma?"

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Alcide teleported him and Pam to the entrance of Sookie's primary residence, and took a step back to go, taking Pam's arm, clearly not wanting to touch her, but having no choice. The pain from her in the bond was pounding at Eric's insides. He turned back to look at them, sighing. A reaction that he had learned from Sookie.

"Pam, no matter what else, you are a maker now. That means that sometimes you have to put your own feelings aside and think of your child first. I know that you can do this. I believe in you." She stood straighter, and he felt her tuck her pain away, accepting the responsibility that she now had, focusing on that instead. "And you," he turned to Alcide, "Try to be less of an asshole whenever you can." Alcide opened his mouth to smart back and then stopped, dropping his head and then coming back up with a crooked grin that said he saw Eric's point. He nodded and then he and Pam teleported away.

Eric sighed again, looking up at the night sky. _Where are you, Sookie?_ He thought, reaching out to her again in the bond, and getting nothing as he had since she had disappeared. He opened the door and moved into the marble foyer, memories of the first time he had come through that door flooding his mind. It seemed so long ago, and like just a moment ago at the same time. He was just about to climb the staircase to his room when John Quinn approached him.

"Where is the Queen?" Something in his tone just pissed Eric off, and he turned around dropping his fangs and growling at the fairy captain. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Quinn asked him, anger rising in his voice. Not having the energy to go through it all, and still not certain that Quinn could be trusted he turned and started climbing the stairs again. "Hey! I asked you a question! Where is the Queen?" Eric was about to turn around and remove his fucking head from his body when he suddenly felt the bond flare to life in his chest and he heard her voice from the top of the stairs above him.

"I'm right here." Eric's head flipped around at vampire speed to behold his beloved Sookie smiling at him. "Is there a problem?" she asked, her smile getting bigger as she took him in from head to toe.

"Not anymore," he said, speeding to her side and crushing her lips to his.


	26. The Deal

_A/N- Thank you all for sticking with me, and welcome to all the new folks that are joining in to see what happens next. I appreciate your comments and support! Hope you enjoy. I don't know about you guys but I am glad that not all "lemons" are dangerous for our characters ;)._

**The Big Bang- The Deal**

Keeping his hands on her at all times, afraid she would disappear again, he was removing her clothes , tearing them violently dropping them on the floor as he walked them step by step this sleeping chamber.

**You are never leaving me again,** he sent to her, growling into her mind and he held her tight enough to bruise flesh.

"Never," she gasped around his kiss, barely getting it out before he took her lips again. He slammed the door behind them, hearing the electronic lock snap into place and he allowed himself to relax a little. Removing the last of her clothes he began to cover her body in kisses, checking to make sure she was well. Down her neck, open mouth cool sucking kisses that marked her as his. His hands cupped her breasts and his mouth took in each nipple one at a time, tasting her. Her hands tangled in his hair, holding him closer and he growled his pleasure at his touch. He was gratified that she was just as desperate to touch him as she was her.

"Niall-"she started as his lips moved to her stomach, continuing his assault.

"Later-" he cut her off. Whatever had happened didn't matter as much as her being here now. His hands ran down her legs, clasping the back of her knees as he knelt before her, taking her scent in with a deep breath before burying his face between her legs, and his tongue in her slick folds. Her arousal was as strong as his own and he shuddered to taste her again.

**So good,** he sent to her, applying pressure on her sensitive nub with his tongue, moving at vamp speed. He took her right to the edge and then stopped.

**No,** he sent to her as she whined and started beg. Moving up at vampire speed he took her mouth again, removing her ability to speak.

**Later. ** She nodded and kissed him, dueling her tongue with his as his hands cupped her bottom and brought her hard against the manifestation of his raging need for her.

**Take off my clothes**, he whispered to her mind, and a moment later he could feel her warm soft body pressed against all the right places on his hard cold one and he moaned in their kiss, thrusting against her instinctively grinding against her. Then he pulled back and flipped her around causing her to gasp as he swept the hair from her neck and started the same wild open mouth reconnaissance of her flesh that he had performed on the her front moments before.

He kissed down her neck, his hands cupping her breasts in the front, flicking her nipples, his touch rough, conveying his anger and need . She felt herself become wetter, as she responded to his need that was pummeling her psychically in their bond, and mentally in his thoughts which were chaotic and incoherent but focused solely on her. On making sure he never let her go again. That combined with the way he was kissing, caressing her flesh and grinding his enormous erection into her backside took her to place of sweetest torture. There was too much to feel, and she sought any release she could get, tears now sliding down her cheeks as she opened herself to him completely, needing to take his pain since she was its cause.

Then his lips found the wound on her shoulder and she gasped in pain. He pulled back immediately, looking down at her back.

"WHO. HURT. YOU?" his voice was thunderous, demanding an explanation now! She looked for the words to explain in her mind, all the while she twisted and folded herself in his arms, trying to align her body to his, to slide him into her wet warmth, needing to feel him. Needing him so much. Her fog was lifted as she felt him let go of her breast and lift his arm to tear his own flesh and heal her.

"No!" she managed to gasp out. "Need the mark. Need it for-"

"Later," he cut her off again, feeling her reassurance in the bond that it as ok and she didn't want him to heal it. He returned his hand to her breast and placed an open mouth kiss on the image that had been burned into her flesh. His cool tongue and healing saliva removed what remaining sting there was and she pushed back against him again, still seeking to join. He denied her, as she had him when she disappeared and continued kissing his way down her back, resuming his torture of her taught nipples, and all she could do was cry out her need, that he pretended to ignore.

**I needed you, too, but you weren't here!** She sobbed at his thoughts, letting his anger pound her mind and soul the way she wanted his body to do to hers.

"Sorry, so, sorry," she gasped out as he knelt behind her, forcing her body to tip forward, he ran his tongue through her slick folds again. Moving at vamp speed he threw her on the bed and placed her legs on his shoulders, slowing then, sliding into her so slowly she thought she was going to lose her mind. Her head thrashed on the bed as she tried to move her hips to find release. His hands held her still effortlessly and she was not able to get that little bit of friction she needed to fall over the edge.

"Oh, please, please, please, Eric!" he met her cries with a locked jaw, his fangs tearing his lips as he felt her lust and love pound at him now. He had felt completely out of control since she disappeared from his arms, lost and alone and fighting himself and everyone else. He needed to feel in control now. He needed to show her what it felt like to have the world just slide right out of from under you, leaving you with nothing to cling to.

"No!" he said, as he held their bodies completely still, refusing to let her move, to have what she needed. "Look at me!" She forced her head to stop thrashing and focused on him, his face right next to hers, his eyes black with need, fangs so extended they were cutting his lips when he spoke, drops of blood running down his chin and dripping on her breasts, covering her skin.

"I'm going to keep you here like this forever!" his whisper caused sent a shiver through her. "Pinned down to this bed, my cock buried to the hilt inside you," she whimpered then, his words setting fire to her insides, "I will always be a part of you and you will…never…be…able…to…leave…me…again!" He wanted to move now, and claim her but she had not been punished enough yet. She was so close that anything else he said or did would give her the release she so desperately needed.

In that moment he realized that he could not deny her what she needed without denying himself and even with her pinned beneath him he realized that control is an illusion. She felt the shift in him, and rage bloomed inside her lust driving her to urge him on. She knew he needed this and she pushed her own desires to the background and focused on healing the man she loved. She still could not move her hips but he had no control over her muscles. She clamped down on his rigid hardness inside her, milking him, and he threw his head back screaming in intense pleasure as she worked him toward the edge of his own release.

"Look at me!" she told him fiercely as she continued to squeeze him so hard and then release him inside her. His gaze locked with hers again and she continued to speak, gasping her words as she too took pleasure in feeling him this way. "I am yours! No matter where I am, no matter what happens, this," she bore down on him harder than before, and he screamed and fought to hold on, " This is yours. Nothing will ever change that! I love you!" Feeling it and hearing it was too much and he started to move then, pushing into her deep and hard, bottoming out inside her, and inside himself something slipped and his control shattered. Blood tears fell now, mingling with what had come from his ravaged lips as he fucked her fast and hard and she held on, chanting his name.

He bit her then needing everything and she took his fangs and his cock and released them both as her orgasm bloomed, causing his to follow. When he released her neck she dropped her legs from his shoulders and rolled them over. He was still rock hard despite his release and she started to ride him then, slamming her hips into his, her face just inches from his. Remembering that she could not have his blood, she looked for someplace to kiss him that was not covered from his self-inflicted wounds, but he was a bloody mess and she had to settle for pulling his hands up and kissing his palms as she rode him at a gallop.

He sat up then burying his face in her breasts and sucking on her nipples, tasting his blood on her skin made him swell inside her, ready to release again. He needed every inch of her to be covered in him, like this, to reassure him that she was his. She felt him swell and as it stretched her even further she ground her hips down harder on him. Grabbing her hips and thrusting up he bit into her breast, sucking her nipple and her blood into him as he released deep inside her and she screamed her pleasure and his name until she could no longer speak. He released her breast, licking the wound closed and caught her as she collapsed in his arms, holding her close to him as he fell back on the bed, bringing her to rest on his chest.

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Dawn came and went as they remained wrapped around each other, he still afraid she would disappear again, she afraid that he would be angry when she told him what had been happening to her after the Were fight. She should have known better. All he cared about was that she was well now, and he kissed her in joy and happiness to know that she was healed. She told him of Niall's attempt to kidnap her and of Pythia and Morgana's interception of her, and the ward that would prevent him from trying that again. Suddenly, she remembered.

"What happened to Alcide? Was the change successful?" he kissed her before answering.

"Yes, he is vampire now with all the gifts that come with that, and he also retained his fairy powers." Her eyes lit up in joy.

"Pam must be so happy." She felt his sadness then. "What, is Pam ok?" He shook his head.

"He is very, very angry with her for changing him and has rejected her."

"What? How can that be? He lost nothing and gained so much?"

"He said he would have rather died, and he blames her for making him a monster."

"Augh! What a giant jackass!"

"He needs time. It is a lot to take in. Perhaps in time he will forgive her." He held her closer for a minute his thoughts roaming to what would happen if he were forced to change Sookie to save her life.

"I will talk to him," she said, snuggling closer to Eric. She had cleaned his face with a warm cloth and now she could kiss him to her hearts content. She started at his ear, nipping his ear lobe tugging it gently in her teeth. "He needs to realize what a gift it is to find love," she sighed in his ear.

"He's not the only one. You have to learn to let me in, Sookie." He matched word to deed as he slid his hand up her thigh and touched her sensitive nub, rubbing slowly and with purpose. "You brought me here to be with you in this, so let me," he whispered before he took her lips. She guided his mouth to her neck and told him to drink. Knowing now not to question he slipped his fangs in as he continued to work her with his fingers. She gasped and lit up and for a moment they were lost in the purple. Seconds later they were alone on a beach in the midafternoon sun, the surf tickling their toes as it rolled in and back. He made her come hard and then she kissed him slowly passionately as the sun warmed them.

Then she pulled him to his feet and led him into the gentle waves where they swam and played, stopping to make love, her clinging to him as he stood on the sandy bottom, letting the waves brush against them gently as the tide came in. He was seconds away from coming when she teleported them back to his room and they climaxed together on his bed, the smell of the ocean still clinging to their skin.

"I don't like who I am when I am not with you," he whispered into her neck, as he placed soft baby kisses on her salty flesh.

"I love you, Eric, all of you. There is nothing you can do that will change that. I want the whole package. So, I'll tell you what." He pulled back to look into her eyes as she smiled and placed a finger on his chest. "I will not keep anything else from you ever again, and you understand that there is nothing you need hide from me. Deal?" His mind ran back to what he had thought and done while she was gone and she heard, felt, saw it all. "Nothing," she said again. He nodded.

"Deal." Running through what she had seen in his mind she knew now that they had spies in The Iron Fist, and that Coleman had returned to Niall to spy for them as well.

"You are everything I ever thought you would be, my love," she told him, pride shining in her eyes as she saw how he had handled everything after she had been taken. He had managed to take a disaster and turn it to their advantage in many ways. "I am so lucky to have you at my side." She clasped his arm now, not as her lover, but as her comrade in arms.

For the first time since she had disappeared her felt his world right itself and all the pieces of him slip back into place where they belonged. He sighed again as peace stretched its arms inside him and started to spread out into all his dark corners.


	27. A Sky Full of Stars

**The Big Bang- A Sky Full of Stars**

War brings opportunity. The opportunity for change, the opportunity for death, and the opportunity for the truly fanatical personality to not only exhibit itself but feed itself and grow.

Brian Jones what humming to himself softly as he worked his way through the ventilation shafts of _Le Monde_, the five star hotel that would be host to A Sky Full of Stars in two nights. He was posing as a repairman brought in to fix the broken air conditioning, which had in fact been sabotaged by another member of his Iron Fist cell that worked here on weekends a bartender. They had all marveled at the coincidence of Phil being employed at the very location of the much publicized event.

"It's fate, brothers," Brian had told them as they toasted their good fortune, dancing for joy at the opportunity they had been presented. Together they had planned how best to use this to their advantage, but their suggestions had left Brian cold. They were thinking like amateurs. He had sat back and let them get all worked up over their supposed big ideas, all the while making his own plans.

He would be the one to go in, and so he would be the one to decide what would happen. Continuing to hum as he worked his way through the shaft he let his mind wander to how proud his kids would be of him when he told them what he had done. How proud everyone would be. He would elevate their thinking and show them that unless they got serious about this thing they were going to lose their world to the Fae.

They would see. Then they would understand. You've got swing for the fence when fate puts you in the game.

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"Vampires don't get butterflies," he growled in her ear as he helped her from the limousine at the red carpet entrance to A Sky Full of Stars. She giggled despite her nervousness, the tension easing for moment in her middle and thereby easing in his. He wanted to keep her relaxed, but didn't dare drop his guard even for second. There were too many unknown variables that were beyond his control.

Before arriving tonight he had run probabilities with her, of what he suspected might happen and discussed what they would need to do if indeed one of these probabilities became their reality. At the end, the result was the same, either she would teleport them away, or he would take her and run. She had wanted to talk about what he would need to do if they were separated again, and he had listened and then followed it up with, "Not going to happen!"

"Experience tells me that in the end," she had told him, her face buried in his chest, and his arms wrapped around her like steel bands, "It will be the thing that we didn't see coming that gets us." He had kissed her rough and hard then, a denial of her words and the situation they found themselves in.

They agreed that they would be most vulnerable when she gave her keynote speech for Brigant Industries, but she would also be safest at that point because the human world would be totally focused on her and little could be done with so many eyes watching. She was to leave the podium and return to him in the audience immediately, rather than heading backstage to return to him in a roundabout way. He wanted to be on the stage with her, but knew that was not a viable option. It would draw too much unnecessary attention to them both to have him standing there. Speculation would run rampant as to why she needed a guard at what as far as the human world was concerned was her own gala. She wanted the focus on her work, not her safety.

His eyes searched the crowd, trying to see beyond the blinding paparazzi flashbulbs and identify any dangers that were waiting for them. As expected The Iron Fist was out_ en masse_ chanting with their posters, but they were being held back by local law enforcement. The only thing that reached them was the ridiculous and repeated chant, "The Iron Fist Won't Clap!" It was written all over their posters as well, and Eric avoided rolling his eyes at what he still considered to be the most ridiculous slogan of all time. Sookie waved and smiled to the people that pressed in on them as they made their way to the entrance, ignoring all the questions being shouted at her from the press and the public. They had agreed that she would forego the schmoozing to get inside as quickly as possible. They had also agreed that she would start to mentally search for Coleman as soon as they arrived.

They had just reached the door when he felt her stiffen at his side. "Got him," she whispered and then, trusting Eric to guide her, she turned into Coleman's mind and started digging. He had returned to Niall when Eric released him, and had fabricated a story about escaping because they had underestimated his ability to recover from the lemons. Niall had questioned him for hours, finally accepting that Coleman was telling the truth when he revealed that Alcide had been turned, playing that he had lingered longer to see what the outcome would be and whether he would survive.

Sookie bristled for a moment, and then let it go. They would have found out sooner or later, and she had insisted that he stay in Nevada tonight anyway. It was too risky even without his newborn status to have them both in the same place at the same time. If something were to happen, they needed The Albho to still have a leader. Of course, Alcide had tried to step out of that as well.

"I'm not equipped to lead the Fae anymore, Sookie, surely you see that," he had told her on the phone when she called him after her return.

'Oh, and how is that exactly?"

"You're kidding right? How about the fact that I want to kill everyone who now works for me and drain them dry? Not exactly the foundation for inspiring loyalty."

"What if it had been me, Alcide? What if I had been about to die and the only way to stop that from happening would have been for Eric to turn me? Step out of your feelings for a moment and look at this objectively. What would you have done if it were me?"

"YOU TOLD THEM TO DO THIS TO ME?" his scream was filled the rage and pain that he had been barely containing since he awakened to his new world.

"Yes."

"What the hell, Sookie? Why? Why would you do this to me?"

"You are my second in command, one of my oldest friends, and I could not bear the thought of losing you. You are irreplaceable, Alcide, in more ways than you know. Tell me that if the situation were reversed you would not have done the same for me, and I will let you go right now." Silence filled the line for several moments as her words sank in.

"I can't," he finally growled out, and she heard a loud crash come from his office as he vented his frustration on his furniture.

"You are now one of the most powerful beings that I know of in existence. Aside from the initial prejudices and assuming you can manage to not eat your staff, you are better positioned than ever to run Nevada and The Albho. Can you still walk in the sun, Alcide?"

"Yes," he answered her, his voice filled with emotion as he thought of his worst fear from all of this, that he would be forced to walk the night forever. However he had found the morning he returned to Nevada with Pam that he could walk in the sun and did not die every day as vampires do. He had been ecstatic, until the hunger had overcome him again and he had been forced to take sustenance. Then, faced with the reality of what he was again, he had spiraled back into depression and anger, which is where Sookie's phone call had found him.

She took a deep breath, relieved to hear that he could still move in daylight and then shifted tactics again. "Then I need you to stop being such a little bitch about this and fairy up!"

"Little bitch?" he asked her incredulously.

"Yes, that's right. It's done now, and there is no going back. I need you to get off your ass and on your feet and do what needs to be done. Clear?" She heard the phone creak in his hand as he searched for a reply.

"Clear" he finally managed to spit out.

"I could have stopped them Alcide, I chose not to. Pam did what she did out of love and fear of losing you, something that I believe you would have done for her as well as me. Your anger is misdirected if you are targeting her. She did it, but I am the one who chose to let it happen. If you have to be an ass to someone, then put it where it belongs. And where it belongs," her tone becoming more strident to get her point across," Is right under the allegiance you swore to our cause and to me. If we survive this, there will be plenty of time for you to hate me, and if we don't then none of this really matters does it?"

"You sound like, Eric. He told me that the night I woke up."

"He is where he is for a reason. So are you."

She knew that telling him to stay away tonight was the right move strategically, but part of her wished her were here. Forcing herself to focus on Coleman she dug deeper to see what else she could learn. A moment later she froze mid-step forcing Eric to stop beside her.

"No," she whispered, her emotions spinning out of control and sending Eric into a tailspin. He immediately began searching the crowd for what she was sensing, all the while moving them to the nearest wall, placing himself in front of her.

"What is it?" She sobbed before answering, fighting to get control of her pain and anger.

"They have started Z-Pop. He wants to find you and tell you tonight. There was nothing he could do to stop it without revealing himself. He's very frightened that you won't believe him and that you will carry through on your threats against his family." She started digging again and found out that the first contamination's had been carried out in the highest populated cities around the world. They would branch out from there, working down to the rural areas last, but their plan was very well orchestrated.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Eric asked her, still watching the crowd and sheltering her as she recovered from this latest information. She shook her head.

"Maybe, their drugs are well designed, and only require a single introduction into the water supplies to affect the populace." She hesitated a moment and then clenched her jaw. "Phase two, is also underway, that one they are starting in the rural areas and working back to the major population on. Niall…" she hesitated then. "Niall upped the time table and launched both initiatives as two prong attack when he failed to capture me. Too many variables and he felt too at risk to wait. Fuck!" Her butterflies had been burned in the fires of the rage now churning inside her.

Eric, while deeply disturbed by what she had revealed, forced himself to remain focused on where they were and worried that now the cards were on the table that Sookie would lose all sight of self-preservation and launch herself directly at Niall in retaliation. _"Aqua Phineas?"_ he asked , trying to keep her focused on damage control, now that stopping the plan was completely out the window. She nodded and registered that Eric had his phone out immediately.

_"Aqua Phineas,"_ he said and terminated the call immediately. She took a moment that they didn't really have to admire the man before her. _Aqua Phineas_ had been his idea. She had asked him to take her from the moment and show her what might happen so that she could be prepared and he had out performed even her wildest expectations.

Anticipating that they might fail to stop the introduction of sterility producing chemicals into the water supplies he had suggested that they organize The Albho Water Fae to try and remove the chemicals through magical means. It was the best shot they had to lessen the impact to the human population and they were about to find out how well it would work. Teams all over the world would now go into motion to track and locate the chemicals and hopefully remove them before too much damage could occur. She reached up then, placing a hand on his face, making him look at her, and she felt herself come back together and locked onto a center of calm.

"You really are brilliant, my love," she told him staring deeply into his eyes. He allowed himself a small smile at her compliment before shifting his attention back their location and the people who were moving around them.

"We need to move," he told her. She nodded and took his arm again, ready to head deeper into the belly of the beast. She forced herself to start scanning again looking for information or threats that they would need to face before the evening was over.

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**I've never seen you look more like a Queen than you do now,** he sent to her as she took the podium to deliver her speech. She looked at him and smiled, letting him know that she heard him, as she waited for the applause to settle. She was about three minutes in when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out he saw a number he didn't recognize.

"Yes," he answered curtly.

"Plan B is to add lemon juice to the water storage for the building and then trigger the sprinkler system in the middle of the party." Eric recognized the glamoured voice of his former Nevada captive and bit back his urge to drop fang in the middle of the crowded party.

"When?"

"Twenty-one hundred hours." Eric glanced at his watch, he had less than ten minutes.

"Anything else?"

"I hope it kills every one of those fairy fu-" Eric disconnected the call, looking around and spotted Niall looking at him from left of the stage. He immediately began to make his way toward him. Several of Niall's fairy guards rose to intervene but Niall motioned them to step back and let Eric approach. He got right to the point.

"The Iron Fist is planning to flood this place with lemon juice filled water in less than ten minutes," he told Niall, leaning close to keep the conversation from prying human ears. Niall looked at him, his contempt shining clear.

"You have bewitched my granddaughter with your lies, what makes you think you can do the same to me?" he asked coldly. Eric looked at the man before him and tried very hard not to rip him to pieces. There had to be some way to get him to see what was happening around him. There had to be some way to reach him before it was too late.

"Why are you doing this?" Niall blinked and stepped back, reassessing the vampire before him.

"I do only what needs to be done." It was in that moment that Eric saw the man behind the curtain for himself. It had been easy to see him as some evil looming figure in the dark, a faceless enemy to fight in this battle that he had decided to join, but when faced with the man himself, it shaped up a little differently. He looked deeper then, trying to see the man that must be in there somewhere to have raised a woman like Sookie. Only a truly extraordinary individual could have had a hand in creating his beloved. An extraordinary individual that had somehow in trying to save his people had lost his way.

Looking into his soul Eric saw the weight of what he was doing bearing down on Niall. From his perspective, he was saving his race from their own destruction. What he was doing now had started in place of great love, it had just gotten twisted somewhere along the way.

"Sometimes, when we start a thing, we can't see how it will turn away from our hands and into someone else's. We can't see how they will twist it and change it into something that is far from what it started out to be."

Eric's words tore at Niall as though he had landed a punch on him and he was torn between killing the vampire that stood before and taking him by the arm and forcing him to tell him if the rumors were true, that he loved Sookie and that she loved him. He could barely fathom such a thing as possible but all his spies told him the same thing over and over. The two of them from their political alliance had bloomed into a love affair for the ages. Hearing Eric's words to him now he could almost understand why she would love him. He reminded Niall just a little of himself, or rather the self he had been before he had taken the weight of his world on his shoulders and placed their welfare above all else.

"I do what I do for my granddaughter herself, and all our kind!" Niall responded, feeling that he had to defend himself, and growing angrier at the realization that he defending himself to a vampire!

"If that is true then you will hear me now. The Iron Fist is planning to attack the Fae here, and if they succeed, not only will everyone here be at risk that you care about, Sookie will be their main target. You have six minutes to get everyone out of here!" The crowd was applauding now, Sookie's speech was done and she was descending the main stage back into the crowd as they had planned, but Eric was not there to greet her.

Instead, at the front of the stage stood The Council themselves, arms open to greet her. Eric saw Morgana, her grandmother, hug her first and whisper something in Sookie's ear that he could not hear over the applause but he felt a flash of pure terror from his bonded as they turned to find him standing next to Niall across the room, a sea of people between them. One by one he cataloged the ancient supernaturals that formed a buttress behind Sookie. Bartolos, the Demon, Ramsey the Were, Octavia the Witch, Acara the D'jinn, and Samuel the Shifter. He heard Niall gasp beside him as he took in the meaning of this display.

The Council had aligned itself with Sookie and The Albho. They might not be willing to set race against race, but they wanted it to be clear to all who were present they stood united with her against The Ciar, and against Niall.

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Everything in Eric wanted to grab Sookie and run, but he had a chance here and now to get through to Niall and put a stop to this once and for all. It was a chance he could not pass up. He turned back to Niall, counting the seconds in his mind, knowing when he would need to cut and run and get her out. He planned to use every second he had left to reach Niall.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her making her way to his side through the crowd and he knew he had to talk fast. "Help me get them all of here and then we can sit down and talk about the best way to resolve this for all parties." His words were lost on Niall, who had just had the remainder of his self-delusion shatter when he saw The Council unite against him. Until that moment he had hung a lot of justification for his actions on the fact that The Council had not intervened. He had taken their lack of action as consent for what he was doing. He had allowed himself to believe that Sookie was just misguided and that if he could talk to her one on one that she would come to see his way was the best way for their people.

But now, he saw those delusions for what they were. If The Council agreed with Sookie, then perhaps the vampire at his side was right, and he had lost his way. He felt numb inside and sick to his stomach at the things he had done. He turned to Eric and opened his mouth to speak.

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If Brian Jones had been a better man he likely would not have crawled through the ventilation shafts at _Le Monde_ two days before A Sky Full of Stars. If he had been a better demolition expert his bomb would have gone off at 21:00 as planned, but he was neither a good man nor a good demolition expert, from there it all fell like dominos.

The clock he selected was defective and on sale in the bargain bin for that reason. The clerk who had put it back on the shelf for re-sale should have returned it the manufacturer, but that was too much paperwork and she didn't want to be bothered that day with forms in triplicate.

It's the little things, that don't seem connected at all that wind up having the biggest impacts in our lives.

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Before Niall could speak the first explosion rocked the building and ceiling gave in above the ballroom falling in massive chunks on the unsuspecting people below. A few had just enough time to look up before their lives were extinguished by the falling debris. Eric's eyes were on Sookie and as the first explosion started he saw her light up and then he felt her hand on his arm.

He turned to look at Niall, reaching for him and in that split second he saw Niall's pain and regret for not listening to him, and for so many other things as well. He saw Niall deliberately step back and under a chunk of debris that would have missed him. The last thing he saw before Sookie teleported him out was a look of peace settle on Niall's features and then he was gone, buried under a ton of rubble and Eric was lost in the purple.

She put him on the sidewalk and moved to go back when he grabbed her, "No! You can't go back. The sprinklers are loaded with lemon juice!" She jerked from his grasp and started walking toward the hotel ignoring him. He moved in front her, grabbing her shoulders, "Stop, Sookie! You can't go back, The Fist has sabotaged the sprinkler system. It would kill you to go back in there now."

" You go then," she ground out, still pushing her way back. "Bring them out to me and I will take them home."

He nodded once and then was gone. One by one be brought out the wounded and the dead. If they were human he laid them on the red carpet, but the supernaturals he stopped in the doorway next to where Sookie waited and she teleported them away. Eric took off his jacket so she could touch them and not be damaged, not the she cared at this point. She wanted to burn but she knew that it would inhibit her ability to do what needed to be done, so she had taken his jacket and tried to protect her skin as much as possible as she took them home.

In that moment she didn't care if they were Ciar or Albho, she only cared they were Fae and therefore kindred. The other supernaturals in attendance received the same careful treatment from her. She waited for Eric to bring out The Council members who had come tonight to align with her and when he brought out Samuel the Shifter and he was dead she screamed her rage and denial of the loss. One by one he brought The Council out, and one by one she took them home, all dead. Morgana, her grandmother was last, hanging on by a thread. Eric laid her gently on the ground and Sookie knelt beside her crying as she watched the light and life fade from the only mother she had ever known.

Morgana reached up to touch her face and then stopped when she realized that she was covered in lemons. She smiled instead, through her blistered face and whispered, "Find Pythia, when all seems darkest, find Pythia." Sookie gasped realizing for the first time that the Ancient Pythoness had not been in attendance tonight. Silently, she gave thanks for her safety, and then broke into sobs a moment later as her grandmother died and she couldn't even hug her goodbye. Eric wanted to hold her as she cried but he was covered in lemon juice from the sprinklers and she was denied his consolation as well. His heart was breaking for her, and then he felt the shift in her emotions so suddenly he rocked back.

"I think my grandfather was right," she said coldly as she looked across the street and the protesters who had now gathered back and began to chant and laugh at the misery that one of their own had caused. Shouts of "We Won't Clap!" rang through the air and he felt her grow colder in the bond as if every emotion had drained out of her. The air around them was still full of dust and the building was moaning on its foundation, trying to decide if it was going to stand or fall completely. Eric had pulled out all the human survivors and all the supernaturals, dead or alive had been teleported away except Morgana, and Niall's remains. "Get my grandfather, Eric, please." he was gone and back in less than a minute with Niall's body wrapped in a table cloth, he had been totally crushed and he had not wanted Sookie to see that.

The sirens were growing closer when Sookie, still kneeling, put one hand on Morgana, and one on Eric who held her grandfather's remains and she teleported them all home Fae.

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_A/N- I got this great review on The Deal, and I loved it so much I wanted to comment about it._

_The reviewer said that they didn't care for Eric wanting to punish Sookie for leaving him, because it's not like she wanted to be kidnapped. They questioned his lack of interest in where she had been and whether she had been hurt in favor of going caveman when she came back._

_I LOVED THIS REVIEW! And I am so thankful they took the time to share their thoughts. _

_Honestly, I agree with what they said, 100%, he should have done all those things. I wrote it that way because I believed it was true to the version of Eric Northman that I have created here. He has been written a million different ways in FF, and I love all of them but in being true to this version I felt he had to be that way. It didn't feel true to have him be all warm and fuzzy after he had just completely slid into the dark and threatened to turn a fairy to make a him hunt and kill his own family. After the thoughts and things that we had seen in the previous chapters, he was too far away from his light to be soft and forgiving right out of the gate. _

_He was concerned in his own way, the search of her person intently before he joined with her, and his questioning who had hurt her when he found the rune on her shoulder was that concern coming to the surface. He was so angry at himself and at her for needing her so much. He had been feeling so out of control do anything at all when she disappeared that it sent him off kilter. _

_He acknowledged that in the line, "I don't like who I am when I am not with you."_

_Perhaps I could have conveyed this better, and I will work harder on doing that in the future because I know now that you guys are paying attention and holding me accountable for what I am doing here._

_I F-ING LOVE THAT! Don't you ever stop holding my feet to the fire. Writing is my passion, and I want more than anything to tell a story that holds true to the plot and the characters the way I have written them. They may not always be warm and fuzzy, frankly I hated the way Alcide acted when he was turned. I thought he was a total ass to blame Pam the way he did, and the scene in the basement between them ripped at my heart._

_I want them to be real, multi-dimensional complex characters that evoke real true emotional responses in my readers. Real people are often selfish and mean and sometimes downright unpleasant, but they can also be heartbreakingly tender and valiant._

_That review tells me that I am doing it close to right, at least sometimes._

_I really love you guys! BIG HUGS I love you because here in this place with this and all my stories I get to be a me that is the truest version of myself that I can be. I get to split souls into fractal moments that show me myself and all those around me in way that might be understood. A way that might help or heal. It really is the coolest thing ever._

_Thank you all for sharing this adventure with me! :)_


	28. Aftermath

**The Big Bang- Aftermath**

They had been in Fae for a week now and Eric could still sense nothing from Sookie in the bond. She did all the right things, said all the right things, arranged for the handling of her grandparents remains and the whole time she didn't feel anything at all. Whenever he tried to touch her she would not pull away, but even his touch evoked no emotion of any kind inside her, not even when she fed him.

It's as though he was not there. It was as though she was not there.

He had expected the palace guards to put up a fight about him coming there, but apparently, all the years of seeing Pythia come and go had conditioned them to the presence of a vampire. He could still sense their caution though, despite his magical ring.

That had been his first surprise. His second had come when he realized that in Fae he could walk in the sun and he didn't need Fae blood to do it. It was never truly dark in Fae, its large pink grapefruit like sun never set, the best they got was a dusk like period where the light dimmed for a few hours and then came back full force. It gave the light a pleasant visual warmth that Eric enjoyed immensely. Each rosy dusk reminded him for some reason of his early evenings in the north when he had been a child. After he finished his chores for the day, he was usually left with a few hours to himself to run through the fields and woods near his village. Those times were his happiest human memories and despite the aftermath of the tragedy around him he found some solace in remembering those feelings and having them again. They gave him hope.

That was something he wanted desperately to give to Sookie, to spark some emotion in her, but he was at a loss as to how to do that.

It was dusk when he found Sookie on the balcony to her room. She was resting against the railing of stone and looking down into the palace gardens, the scent of flowers filled the air making it sweet. He came up behind her and put his arms around her pulling her back against him and leaning down to kiss her neck. She did not resist him, but the bond was still a flat line and his mind cast back to her words right after the explosion, which was the last time he had felt her.

_I think my grandfather was right._

Not thinking about it he held her closer and started to rise from the balcony and into the rose colored evening. Once they were airborne he wrapped his legs around her too, and started to fly in the direction the nearby forest, flying slowly, skimming over the tops of the trees and looking down at the ground beneath them as it peeked through the trees. Then suddenly he rose straight up, headed for some fluffy clouds that were drifting over their heads. She gasped as they slide through the first one, feeling it's moisture caress her skin softly and he immediately turned them to fly through more., feeling the caress himself, letting his mind go back to the night they met and their tumultuous ride through the clouds and the oncoming storm. She had been so amazing that night. She had been so amazing every night since. Not caring that she was not broadcasting he sent her all his love and support through the bond and he felt a flicker of pain from her in return.

"What's wrong?" he whispered in ear softly as they flew.

"How can you feel that way about me, Eric? After everything that has happened?" her tone was still cold and detached.

"I don't understand. Explain, please."

"ALL THOSE FUCKING PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE OF ME! HOW CAN YOU LOVE ME AFTER WHAT I DID?"

"I was with you, I know you didn't put that bomb in _Le Monde,_ Sookie."

"Don't be an ass, Eric. Of course I didn't put that bomb in the hotel." He felt a trickle of anger from her now. _Good,_ he thought, _that isn't what I want, but maybe I can get to it if we can get that out of the way._

"Then how exactly is all this your fault?"

"The Iron Fist exists because I opposed The Ciar agenda. If I had just gone along they would be alive now!"

"What?" he asked, feeling the dam inside her starting to crack. "You're saying that if you had turned a blind eye to the extinction of all races but the Fae that Niall would never had fed information to The Iron Fist that led to his own death?"

"Stop trying to be fucking reasonable, Eric! I don't want reasonable right now!" She started struggling against him then, and he felt the dam give a little more.

"What do you want, Sookie?" he asked in her ear again. She pushed away again and he let her go, allowing her to take flight under her own power. She torpedoed right at the ground and he thought for a moment that she was going to deliberately crash herself. Immediately, he flew after her picking up speed until he broke the sound barrier, and caught her just as thunder rolled through the skies of Aeon. She was fighting now with her whole body, clawing and scratching to get away from him, and that was when he felt the dam inside her burst and her tears began to flow.

Slowly, he lowered them to the ground, her still fighting him, but not really hurting him. Once her feet touched ground she turned back toward the palace, which was about a mile away, and started to run. She ran like she thought she could go back in time and change what had already happened, sobbing and crying all the way. Eric followed at a distance, watching over her, but letting her run. About a thousand yards from the palace she took a ninety degree turn and headed toward the cliffs in the distance. He followed, wondering where she was going, more than a little concerned that she was going to throw herself over the edge and onto the rocks several hundred feet below.

He was surprised when he saw her duck into a cave and disappear. He sped up, not wanting her out his sight until she had calmed down. He could feel her now, and she was a careening mess of guilt, anger and remorse. It was so strong he felt tears rising to his own eyes as her emotions swept through him. Entering the cave he saw it went on for some distance and he could hear her still running telling him that she was all right for now. He sped up, not trusting what she might do.

He heard her stop and a moment later he was beside her. She was looking down at a pool of water that cast a glow on the walls of the cave around them. He saw that it ran through the stone walls and in the direction of the palace. She stood there a moment, catching her breath, her tears still flowing down her cheeks. After a few minutes she took his hand and pulled him to sit on the ground with her, next to the pool.

"I used to hide here when I was child and the world got to be too much for me," she said softly, staring into the pool, her eyes distant as the was lost in the past. "Grandfather was always the one who would come and find me. He always knew where to find me, when I ran away." She sobbed then, squeezing his hand as she struggled to find her voice to go on. "He would tell me that there was nothing for me to run away from, that I was the strongest and bravest fairy who had ever been…and…and…there was nothing I couldn't handle." She gave into it then and scooted across the ground and into his arms, burying her face there as she finally let out everything she had been holding in for days.

He kissed the top of head and rocked her slowly back and forth as she cried, humming a gentle tune to her as he rocked her. He didn't even realize he was doing it until she asked him through her tears what he was singing to her. "Something my mother used to calm me when I was a babe," he told her softly. He was surprised when he felt her shift in the bond again and he heard her laughter peal out of her and echo on the walls of the cave around them. He leaned back to look at her, his eyebrow going up. She continued to giggle, but it was hysteria, not humor, she was in a complete emotional tailspin, crashing and clashing in his veins as she worked through her grief.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she finally got out, curling back into his chest and pulling him close. "It's just that when I would come here, until my Grandfather showed up to take me back to the real world, I would imagine you here with me. It was never like this," she got out before her hysteria took over again. Rubbing her back gently he whispered to her.

"What was it like, dearest?"

"Oh, little girl fantasies, me your lady faire, and you my knight in shining armor. I would pretend that you had come to rescue me, take me away from all this to fly through the night at your side on one of your adventures that Pythia and Grandmother told me about." She shifted again, tears beginning anew. He imagined her here, pretending that he was with her, and wondered just how she had imagined his two hundred year old self to be. Right behind that realizing that at that point he had still been with Appius and likely little of what was really happening would be something such an innocent young mind could or should imagine. He buried his face in her hair then and tried to close the door on the memories her innocent comments had freed inside him.

She must have felt his efforts to contain his own emotions in their bond because she pulled back then, wiping her face and then placing a kiss on his forehead, her hands on either side of his face. She looked into his eyes then and despite her red eyes and puffy nose, he thought he had never seen her look more beautiful.

"My sweet, sweet liar," she smiled at him then, a glimmer of her sassy go to hell self, but still the first glimmer he had seen since the bombing. "This pool feeds the sacred springs that run under the palace," she told him, confirming his earlier thoughts. "We use this water to replenish ourselves, to heal, to charge our magical batteries, so to speak." She stopped then and looked around sadly. "Niall and I had a tradition, a ritual. Every time he found me here and told me that I could handle anything, before we would leave we would drink from the spring together. It was a symbol of strength, unification and healing for us."

She moved then, scooting to the edge of the water and cupping her hand, reaching down and coming back with a precious few drops in the palm of her hand. She drank them down, and Eric saw her faintly glow for a moment. Then she reached down and repeated her action, this time bringing her hand to his lips.

"Sookie, I can't drink that," he told her gently, not wanting to hurt her feelings but he knew that blood was the only substance he could consume and keep down.

"Trust me," she told him, looking him in the eye and holding her hand out. Quite sure this would end badly, but unable to deny her, he cupped her hand in his and brought it to his lips, taking a cautious sip. His eyes opened wide in surprise and he went back for the rest.

"It tastes like blood to me!" his voice filled with surprise and awe. She nodded, smiling at his reaction.

"I noticed when I wound up back her after Niall-" she stopped, and shook her head sadly. She took a deep breath and pushed on, "I noticed that it tasted like you to me and realized that there must be some connection between the magic that is in your blood and what is in the water." She reached back down then and got another handful for herself, and after she drank another for him. When he drank this time, he saw himself glow faintly and he felt overcome with a sensation of peace and well being. He felt warm all over!

"Gods, that is amazing!" he said, he eyes large as he looked at her unable to contain his joy at the feelings sweeping through him.

"Grandfather said that if I ever felt like the world was crashing down on me, that this would be all I needed to get through, but he was wrong. " Eric looked at her, concern in his eyes. "This," she said gesturing at the pool," is all well and good and I am grateful for it, but it's not all I need to get through this." She looked at him then, and moved closer, wrapping her arms around him. "I need you, too, Eric," she whispered in his neck. His arms came around her holding her, supporting her.

"I am yours. Take whatever you need from me," he told her, kissing the top of her head again.

"There is so much waiting for us back at the palace. Can we just stay here for a little while longer like this? This is what I need right now," she said, hugging him tighter as she spoke.

"Anything," he told her, hugging her back just as tightly. They sat that way for a long time, just holding each other. Eventually, she kissed him, and he kissed her back letting her set the pace, keeping his word that she could take whatever she needed. Their kiss intensified, and they made love beside the sacred spring, another act of healing before they left the safe womb of the cave and faced the outside world again.

As they walked hand in hand back to the palace he asked the question he had wanted to ask her for some time now. "You don't really believe Niall was right do you?" She didn't answer him right away, but he felt her rage in the bond as she chose her words.

"I think he might have had a point," she said sadly as they walked. "They were laughing, Eric. They killed all the family that I have except for you and Pythia and they thought it was funny!" She stopped there, and he sensed her trying to calm herself and step back from her pain to see the bigger picture. "Still, Niall had a hand in what happened, he told them how to hurt us and they in their fear and ignorance only took what would be the next logical step once they had that information."

"Do you think that Niall's demise will be the end of The Ciar?" She shook her head.

"I am sure that is what he thought, when he chose to end himself at _Le Monde,_ but I think he was wrong. He did a good job of convincing the monarchs that aligned with him that this was the only way to save our realm. It may take them some time to reorganize, but I don't think they are just going to roll over and let their agenda go." As if the fates had been listening a palace guard approached them then, bowing deeply to Sookie before speaking.

"Majesty, Gavin James is here and waiting to speak with you about an urgent matter." She nodded and dismissed the guard. Eric bristled at her side.

"What do you suppose Niall's second in command wants?" he asked her.

"I guess we are going to find out sooner than expected," she told him, but he sensed something else in the bond, something that had her very uncomfortable.

"Aside from Niall's second and the King of New York, who is Gavin James, Sookie?" He watched her pack her grief away and put on her queen face before she answered him.

"He also is one of the suitors who offered marriage," she told him. "He was Niall's favorite in the contest to win my hand."

"Three reasons for me to kill him and I have never even met him. That must be some kind of record," Eric growled sarcastically.

"Come on," she said taking his hand. "Let's go see what he has to say."

"And if we don't like it, then I can kill him?"

"If we don't like what he has to say, I'll flip you for it." He chuckled.

"I just happen have a quarter in my pocket," he told her as they entered the palace.

"Of course you do. You're always prepared. It's just one of the many reasons I love you." She looked back at him then, smiling her wicked smile and winked at him. "I call heads."


	29. The Collector

_A/N Thank you all for the comments and support that you have given me for this story! :) _

**The Big Bang- The Collector**

Gavin James, the Fire Fae King of New York, was seated when they entered, hands folded in his lap with two guards on either side of him. He watched them, a frank stare, assessing the distance between them, noting that there was hardly any at all. He saw the vampire assess the room, the guards and place his back against the wall next to the door, allowing him, in theory, to strategically control the room. Sookie stopped a short distance in front of him, placing him at her back and leaving her close enough to reach him should the need arise.

_Niall said they were close, but until I saw it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it. This makes her even more unique and special! _

"What can I do for you, Gavin?" Sookie said by way of greeting. He waited for a moment, looking at her intently, as though trying to read her thoughts, knowing the whole time she was reading him. He could have let her pick up what he was there to say, but there would be no opportunity to assess the vampire if they kept their conversation one sided. He wanted to make sure that Eric knew his intentions beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"I wanted to inform you personally that Niall named me as his beneficiary and that Dreamscapes Unlimited, and all endeavors they are engaged in are now under my control." He was gratified to see her visibly shaken by this information. He paused to see if she would react further, and when she did not he continued. "Niall and I spoke extensively about you before his passing and he felt that your interests would be best served if we were to proceed with our union, as was his final wish. I have come to collect you."

The sound of Eric's fangs coming down was loud in the room and his growl that accompanied them brought all four of Gavin's guards to attention, fire balls appearing in their hands ready to hurl at the vampire should he move or if Gavin indicated they should proceed. "Collect me?" Sookie repeated coldly.

"Yes, that is correct. I am sure you know my penchant for finding the rarest and beautiful things and capturing them for myself." A slow smile spread across his face, "And you, my dear, are truly a wonder. You would be the pearl of my collection, my wife, my mate, and our offspring, with their heritage of Earth, Air and Fire would be completely unique as well. How long will it take you to prepare to leave? There are many things to take care of back in the mortal realm and I can't be delayed in returning."

"Well then, I am so pleased to tell you that you can go right now," she replied, standing taller and staring him down.

"Oh, come now. Surely you will need some time to prepare, things you want to take, etcetera, etcetera," he said waving his hand dismissively in her direction. "Of course, the vampire will not be coming with us," he added in an off handed way, not even bothering to look in her direction as he said it.

Silence reigned for a moment and then Sookie burst into laughter. Eric reached out in the bond fearing she was collapsing into hysteria again, but instead found genuine amusement rolling back to him. She thought this was funny. Eric however, was missing the humor. He did not miss that fact that Gavin looked even more entranced with her as she laughed. _He expected that reaction,_ he thought and then right behind it,_ No he hoped for that reaction._ Eric began to rethink his original assessment of the fairy before him.

He had known collectors before. Those truly devoted to expanding their collections would go to any lengths to own their heart's desire, and if they failed to acquire it they would often rather destroy it than live with the idea that someone else had gotten what they wanted. However, they only thrilled in the chase, and often, once acquisition was complete, would lock their collectable away, and never look at it again.

Sookie was wrong to take this fairy lightly.

He would be a ruthless adversary, and bad loser, because there was no way he was getting his hands on Sookie. He began to calculate the odds of taking out four fire wielding guards and the King himself and found they were not in his favor, knowing that wouldn't stop him from trying if this conversation went on much longer. She turned to him then and smiled at him, offering wordless comfort for his growing rage. Gavin noted the exchange and felt his interest go up another notch.

_Fascinating._

"Niall's company was his to leave to whomever he chose and I congratulate you on your new holdings. Dreamscapes Unlimited has the potential to truly change the world for the better, with the right person at the helm," she told him. "However, you did not inherit me, and I will not be returning with you, or marrying you, and there will definitely not be any offspring between us." Gavin tilted his head looking at her, looking through her.

_Nothing she has said is a surprise,_ Eric thought, _so what is this really about?_

"Niall thought you were misguided, Sookie. Under the influence of other parties who had their own agenda's and that with time and guidance you would come to see that The Ciar agenda is the one that is best for all of Fae. He had a soft spot for your distractions and childish rebellions. Make no mistake, I do not. We could have crushed you long ago, it was his heart and his confidence that you needed to be wooed and won that prevented The Ciar from taking you, or outright killing. Make no mistake, I am not Niall."

"That becomes more evident with each word you say," Sookie responded in kind, tilting her head now, mimicking Gavin's actions and tone. "You know the funny thing about power, Gavin?" She went on not giving him a chance to answer, "You only know you have it when people show up to tell you that you don't.

"If Niall had a soft spot for me, then you can rest assured that I, too had one for him. He was wrong, but he was family. When it came to the killing blow I am not sure that I could have found the strength to take him out. Rest assured, I will have no such qualms about you."

"I could take you," he told her.

"You could try," Eric spoke for the first time, stepping up beside Sookie. "Please, try."

_Exquisite!_ Gavin thought, realizing in that moment that to make his collection complete he would need both of them. The fairy and her vampire. Individually, they were very desirable, but together, they were breathtaking. _I must have them!_ He stood then, adjusting the cuffs of his expensive suit casually before looking at them both.

"I am disappointed that we were not able to reach an agreement."

"You'll live," she told him sounding incredibly disappointed about the fact.

"Indeed, and I think in time, you will come to see things my way," with that he and his guards teleported away.

"We should return to the other realm as soon as possible," Eric said, still looking at where Gavin had been seated with murder in his heart. She sighed and nodded. He felt her mental exhaustion at the idea of going back to war and moved to pull her into his arms.

"I wish we knew where Pythia was," Sookie whispered into his chest. They had not heard from her since the explosion. Sookie was torn between going back to fight and staying here to rebuild. The supernatural world was in chaos now, their Council having been destroyed.

"There is time," he told her. "New representatives for each group still have to be chosen. There is nothing to do here in the meantime." She sighed again, knowing he was right, but she still hesitated. This most recent encounter only underscored all the reasons should would rather say in Aeon and let Alcide handle the war for a while longer.

_Aqua Phineas_ had been largely successful and they had managed to prevent the majority of the human populace from being exposed to the sterility that Niall had planned, and that Gavin was still intent on executing. "We need to find Coleman to try and get in front of what is coming next. What's coming next, Eric?"

Rather than answer he kissed her.

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When Gavin arrived back in his New York office, he placed a call.

"Quinn."

"I want to know the minute they return."

Later he made another.

"I need you to find someone for me. Last reports had him in Mississippi. Start there."

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They had been back in Oklahoma for a week when Sookie felt it for the first time. They had been riding in the back of the car on their way to the orphanage when there was a rush of tingling through her body and she was overcome for a moment with need and desire.

Eric responded to her feelings of lust instinctively, pulling her close for a swoon worthy kiss. She was swept away for a few moments, removing her clothes in a trance when the tingling passed and realization dawned.

Her time of mating was coming.


	30. The Cruelest Wrinkle

**The Big Bang- The Cruelest Wrinkle**

They had discussed how they would handle this many times since he arrived in Oklahoma and they had a simple solid plan.

Get her someplace safe, away from everyone else, and make sure she had everything she needed to get through this time.

The someplace safe was one of her properties that she kept under a different name. They had chosen Bon Temps, Louisiana and the old farmhouse that she owned there under the alias Sookie Stackhouse. It was rural, and sequestered from the surrounding properties, it was unlikely that anyone would even know they were there, so it met the second requirement easily. They estimated a week to be the duration of her mating cycle, and in anticipation of that they had slipped away before the gala in New Orleans and laid in supplies for the time they had known was imminent.

"You do know the main thing I will need is you, right?" She had teased him as they toured her country home during their visit. He had laughed at her that day. Suddenly now the humor was escaping him. Their simple solid plan had been tested at every side and corner.

The night they had returned from the orphanage, when she had felt the first blush of desire Quinn had greeted them at the door. That was normal. They had barely gotten a foot in the door however when they heard him take a deep breath, sensing the change in Sookie's hormones was evoking a primal response in him. His eyes has dilated to black and he had stepped toward her, hypnotized by the pheromones she was producing. Eric was not unaware, he was just not ruled by his biology to procreate.

"STOP!" he had roared at Quinn, stepping between them, placing her at his back. Quinn kept coming like he didn't hear him, scenting the air as he tracked his prey. A moment later Eric's fist connected with Quinn's jaw and he went spiraling backwards from the force of the blow. He made several attempts to get up again before collapsing in a heap. Sookie took a sharp intake of breath behind him, and he turned to find another of her guards approaching them down the hall, drawn by the commotion. As he came closer the narcotizing pheromones reached him and he was enslaved as Quinn had been. He was behind Sookie though and she hadn't seen him yet. Something else had startled her.

Not having a chance to ask right then he grabbed her and ran up the stairs at vamp speed, closing the door to his light tight suite and setting the electronic locks to keep her would be mates outside. He had felt it pass quickly in the car, and had not realized the lingering scent would have such a dramatic impact on every male fairy that she came into contact with, especially in these early stages. He turned about to ask her what else he could expect when she cut him off speaking first.

"Quinn is reporting to New York. His guard slipped as he was fighting for consciousness and I heard him worry that New York would kill him if he knew how much he wanted me in that moment."

Eric sighed. They had always been careful around him, not sure which camp he was in, but to find him aligned with New York was disturbing on many levels. "Did he inherit the loyalty of Quinn from Niall?"

"I don't think so," she said biting her lip, realizing without having to be told that meant that New York's interest predated Niall's demise. He was a much heavier hitter than Sookie had given him credit for in Aeon.

"Is this about the Albho or about you?" he asked her, hoping that New York had a spy here for political rather than personal reasons.

"Both, if he could, but the primary reason was personal."

"Do you suppose there are others?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I always thought there were. Remember I told you the second night you were here, none of them could be trusted and that I thought my go to move had left me blinded." He smiled at her.

"You are both beautiful and wise," he teased her gently. She scoffed.

"Obviously," was her dry reply.

"Can you teleport us to Bon Temps?" She hesitated, a look of concentration on her face. Finally, she nodded.

"I think so, but we have to go soon!" she said urgently, fear in her eyes. Being powerless and at the mercy of everyone with so many adversaries in motion was a very frightening concept for her. He didn't need a bond to tell him she was freaking out more than a little. "Within in the hour," she added after some more internal analysis.

He called Pam and told her what was happening and that they would be out of reach for a week, then left his phone on the bed. He gathered a few essentials for them, knowing that they had supplies already laid in and then turned to her. "Ready?" She stood and took his hand starting to light up.

The light sputtered and died out. Her eyes grew large and he felt terror bolt through her. He sent her calm through the bond and took both of her hands in his. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes concentrating. At first, nothing happened, and then slowly he saw the glow starting to build within her. Slowly purple filled his vision and he felt himself start to move, slower than her normal teleportation's this one went on and on.

Just when he was starting to be concerned that they would never rematerialize they did. They were outside, he looked around quickly and saw the farmhouse in the distance. He turned back just in time to catch her as she collapsed.

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He had carried her quickly to the house and placed her in the bedroom that she had told him would be theirs during their stay here. She had thoughtfully ordered light tight shutters added to the house about a month before, so it was ready for him as well as her. When they had talked about what was going to happen she had indicated that while this was her first mating cycle, she had been told that it would be intense for her and her chosen mate. It was also going to take her waves, rather than a total submersion for the entire period.

During the waves, she would likely not he herself. She would be an entirely physical creature, her body using all available resources to achieve its end of reproduction. He should not try to appeal to her intellect, because it would buried beneath her instincts. She had in that moment given him her permission to restrain her or subdue her by whatever means necessary to keep her from coming to harm.

"Better a black eye, than you allow me to get away and do who knows what," she had told him, trying to make it seem light, but if she was suggesting that he would have to resort to physical violence to maintain her safety he saw nothing funny in that whatsoever. Realizing he was worried, she had tried to reassure him.

"I know that you will do whatever you have to do, and I trust you, Eric. I am the one that you can't trust. No matter how reasonable I may seem, I will not be myself until this is over."

He had covered her, and then set about building a fire in the bedroom. The task was mostly to calm him, and give him something to do with his hands while he waited for whatever might come next. She still had not awakened when he was done and he decided to do a quick perimeter check and make sure that they were truly alone. He had done a similar check when they were there a couple of weeks ago, so he had a baseline to work from to establish anything out of the ordinary.

He was almost done when he felt her awaken. He had thought what he felt in the car on the way to the orphanage was about as intense as it could get but he had been so horribly wrong about that. Her need telegraphed to him through the bond and he responded instinctively, his body readying itself to meet her wave of passion and desire.

He moved at top speed back to her side, and found that she had left the house and was standing in the backyard looking up at the moon. He stopped beside her, waiting for her to speak, to move, to tell him what she needed. He was captivated by her in the pale moonlight, her hair down. She had left her clothes inside and the smell of her made his fangs drop. Inside him was the strangest combination of ferocity and tenderness, and he was glad they had come to such a lonely place to spend this time together because if anyone dared to intrude he would tear them apart with his bare hands.

She was shaking with desire but she still had not looked at him or acknowledged his presence. She took a few steps away from him and then the ground lit up beneath her feet, in the form of a circle. "Oh, I see now," she said softly, looking at ground around her feet.

"See what?" he moved toward her but did not cross into the circle.

"MMMMM," she said as the light started to move up her legs, winding slowly around her ankles, and calves. "This is why this place was so special to Fintan. This place is powerful, very, very powerful!" The light had now moved up to her waist and for a moment it spun around her middle before splitting, part of it continuing to wrap itself around her torso the other diving back down and rising up directly between her legs. As it's intimate caress disappeared there he felt her desire deepen and she moaned her pleasure at the touch. He was spell bound, recalling the night of the Were and when they had connected in the field that night after the healing was done.

"Yes," she whispered holding out her hand to him, beckoning for him to join her. He left his clothes outside and stepped into the light with her, immediately feeling the charge move along his skin, caressing him as it had her. It felt like a tiny thousand hands pleasuring his flesh as he moved into her arms. She was so bright in the light that rising from beneath her that it caused him to think of the image her had of her running through the field of sunshine, and then right behind it the tiny blond fairy that hounded her steps.

"Oh, yes!" she cried out as she saw that image in his mind. Then her lips were on his and he was lost in what he was feeling in the bond and in the light. He reached down between her legs and the slickness and heat that he felt almost made him come just from anticipating what it was going to feel like being inside her.

"Yes!" she whispered fiercely again, "Do that, let me feel you," she moaned before kissing him again. He pulled her down to the ground with him, bring her astride him, guiding himself into her, feeling her take him and he roared his pleasure.

"Tell me," she begged savagely in his neck, biting him hard enough to draw blood. "Tell me that you want what I saw in your mind. Tell me you want to make her with me!" He shuddered, his body and mind in overload and he had barely moved within her yet. When his backside had touched the ground the power emanating from there had slid up his back, making him harder inside her, making his need to release a physical ache. The power rising from the ground was pounding through him waves, in perfect time with the waves of desire emanating from her. Then she took it to a whole other level when she started to squeeze his cock inside her with the same rhythm.

"More than anything, but I can't!" He sobbed, knowing that they could never have that together, that she had chosen him because he could not produce offspring. Gods, he needed to move inside her. Attempting to fill the empty ache inside him at forever being denied that little girl he had seen over and over again he started to move her on him, slamming her down as he thrust up into her harder. She was so ready for him that she was dripping and the scent was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He wanted to bite her, and fuck her until he could no longer think, no longer feel the pain of not being able to father that little girl that haunted his waking dreams.

"You can here," she moaned between thrusts, her head back, the long column of her neck exposed to him as she rode him hard and fast.

"No," he gasped out, denying her words, though he wasn't really hearing them above the sounds of their bodies, over the feeling he had that told him his orgasm was coming any second now.

"Yes, here in this circle you can give her to me. Oh, please, please Eric, come inside me! Make her with me!" That somehow broke through his haze, and at the last possible second he pulled her off him as he released, his seed spilling across his stomach and legs as she howled at the loss of him and of being denied. It was a more animal than human sound, ferocious and angry, she ripped herself from his grip and slid back out of the circle huddled in on herself as she stared at him uncomprehendingly.

He felt her need rush through her again and his body reacted, ready to pleasure her again, but he dared not. No matter how much he wanted what she had just offered him, it wasn't Sookie who offered it. Her words echoed through his mind as he watched her in the grips of her passion slide her hand down between her thighs, seeking the release that he had just denied her.

_I need a mate who can service me, produce no offspring and protect me while I am at my weakest._

_I know that you will do whatever you have to do, and I trust you, Eric. I am the one that you can't trust. No matter how reasonable I may seem, I will not be myself until this is over._

Had she known this would happen? Is that why they came here? No, he thought, there is no way that she would have risked pregnancy at this time. This was just another wrinkle in their best laid plans.

The cruelest fucking wrinkle. His body wanted to give her what she wanted. His soul longed to see his vision come to be a reality. But he could not betray her trust like that, not even for his dream.

He saw her now, bringing herself to orgasm and he felt ripped apart at denying them both and swearing in that moment to do all he could to help her when she needed him most, no matter what that meant for him. Grabbing her ankle and dragging her to him he spread her legs and buried his face in her, taking slow long licks from top to bottom, feeling her quiver on his tongue from the pleasure she had just given herself. Settling in on her pleasure center he worked her with his mouth until she came so hard that her scream split the quiet night around them and he was swept away in her pleasure, ejaculating onto the ground beneath his thrusting hips.

The taste and smell of her crashed in the walls of his resolve but they did not waver.

He had promised to protect her when she was too weak to protect herself, and he would not betray her, no matter what.


	31. A Field Full of Flowers

**The Big Bang- A Field Full of Flowers**

She was still asleep beside him when he rose for the night. He had loved her until dawn, using all his experience and expertise to satisfy her body's demands without actually giving her what she wanted. What he actually wanted.

Four days to go.

He was tired, he never felt tired. It was not possible for him to feel tired, but he felt that way none the less. He knew it was the weight of the decision that he had made for both of them that was wearing on him. Over and over she had begged him, and each time he had redoubled his efforts, employed his best techniques to satisfy her, but in between her countless orgasms as he worked her through the wave she would beg him, crying and sobbing in her frustration to feel him moving inside her, filling her.

Over and over he had spilt his seed outside the warmth and heat of her that he longed to feel around him again. Forcing himself to shut out her pleas and cries he focused on the feelings that flooded the bond and worked from one orgasm to the next until she had succumbed to exhaustion just before dawn.

It had been the longest and most painful night that he could remember having in a long time.

What if she hates you for taking this chance from her? He knew that she loved him, perhaps if she had known this was a possibility and they had been able to discuss it before the mating had begun her answer would have been different.

What if you do this and have her hate you anyway because this is just you trying to find a way to justify your own selfish needs?

He showered quickly and went outside to do a quick perimeter check and gather wood to build another fire. He felt her waken but she did not call to him as she had the night before. I guess that means we are at low tide for now, he thought hurrying none the less, not wanting her to be alone in case she needed him.

He found her in the kitchen making tea. She came to him immediately and he dropped the wood to take her in his arms. She hugged him tightly, "I'm so sorry, Eric. If I had known we would have discussed it before coming here, I swear it!" He rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head. "Why didn't you tell me that you wanted a child with me before?" she asked his chest, still not looking him in the eye.

"It's best not to speak of the impossible," came his soft answer. She held on tighter.

"I wish you had told me. I wish we could have talked about it when my head was straight." Her frustration was clear but it was not aimed at him, just at this incredibly fucked up situation they now found themselves in. "I want this, I want it with every fiber of my being, but…I'm SUPPOSED to want that now. I have no way of knowing if it's what I really want or what my body is convincing me I want, and by the time I can think straight enough to know, our chance will have passed."

He picked up and carried her into the living room, settling on the sofa with her in his lap sideways so that she could rest her head on his chest. "What do you want, Eric?" He sighed.

"The bond we share ties me to your body so I am responding to your needs almost as much as you are, but it has been my secret wish almost since the day we met." She gasped softly at his words. "The night of the gala on my second night in Oklahoma was the first time I saw that image that you picked up from me."

"But you have seen it over and over since then?"

"Yes," he whispered, holding her closer. "And the night of the Were fight when we made love in the field I had a dream…a vision of some kind that you were pregnant." He stopped then, not wanting to share the end of that and upset her. If all that came to pass he would find a way to make sure she and the child were safe. The Ancient Pythoness had promised to tell him how when next they met in his vision.

"Sookie, why did you pick this place to come to now?" She shrugged.

"Lots of reasons. The connection to Fintan, the remote rural location. I have always loved this place." She sighed then.

"You knew we were coming here over a month ago, which was slightly before we met, when you had the room made light tight for me. How did you know?"

If he had needed to breathe he would have been holding his breath to see if she said what he was pretty sure she was about to say.

"Pythia suggested it," she said softly, turning deeper into his embrace, starting to nuzzle his neck. He could feel her lust starting to rise slowly as her hands caressed his neck and she moved suggestively in his lap.

Pythia had told him four hundred years ago to go west until he found his sun. Pythia had told him in his vision that he needed to ask her when they met again, how to save Sookie and his child from the darkness. Pythia was of his bloodline. Pythia suggested they come here.

"Sookie," he pulled back to look at her, "you trust Pythia, right?"

"Completely."

"Do you trust me to make this decision for us now?" She nodded.

"The only person I trust more than Pythia is you, Eric. You're all I have left now." Her words were slow and sad and his heart broke for her. She had lost so much recently and now there was this. They had been viewing it as a necessary evil, but perhaps it was a gift in disguise, an opportunity.

Oh, but what a chance! A chance to see Sookie and their daughter running through that field of flowers in the bright yellow sunshine! There are so many risks, his mind told him trying to be rational in the face of all this hope and joy that was flooding his system.

How will you protect them? How will you keep them safe in the middle of a supernatural war that will decide the fate of the very world itself?

Since when did you become so afraid of losing something that you won't even try to have it?

As his mind raced to connect the dots and question what he was thinking, Sookie slid the robe she had been wearing of her shoulders and wrapped her knees around his hips. She was grinding herself against his erection that she could feel beneath her bottom, and her rising lust was slowly tipping his intellect out and taking control.

"Need you," she whispered, rocking harder against him. He moaned and kissed her as his hips rocked in response, the last glimmer of doubt leaving his mind. "Need you," she said again, throwing her head back and rocking harder on him. His hand slipped down and found her pleasure center, rubbing her at vampire speeds she came on his hand less than a minute later, crying out his name in an unending litany before falling into him.

He knew he had a couple of minutes before she would revive and need him again. He moved them outside swiftly and to the spot that had lit up the night before. As soon as he placed her feet on the ground, the light returned, shining bright and moving up her body in soft wispy tendrils. He watched it as he removed her robe and spread it out on the ground beside them. He removed his own clothes and stood before her waiting. She looked up at him with love and lust in her eyes and pulled him to her, her hands on his either side of long graceful neck. Down and down she pulled him until she covered the robe and he covered her.

The tendrils of light wound up from his feet to his long sculpted legs, and he felt the electric sensation that he had experience the night before centered in his lower back and middle, making him leak in anticipation. The intensity made him hiss, and rather than wait she reached between them and lined him up with her entrance thrusting herself onto him, feeling whole at long last.

This was what she had needed so desperately last night. From the moment he sank into her hot welcoming channel she started to spasm, her pleasure overload telegraphing to him forcing him over the edge before he even moved. The intensity of his release increased immeasurably by the light winding around them both now, growing bright and pulsing in time with the waves of desire that moved between them in the bond. Still rock hard, he started to thrust and felt the warmth inside her increase, as though the friction of their bodies was starting a fire.

She called his name again, as he moved in her. "I'm right here," he told her, thrusting harder so she could feel him. Her head rolled to the side offering him her neck and he moaned, falling into the curve of her shoulder. "I will if you will," he told her and she nodded, her eyes closed as she tried to process and contain everything that was sweeping through her. "Look at me, Sookie" he commanded to her.

"No, no I can't," she moaned twisting her head further away.

"Look at me!" he whispered fiercely. Her eyes popped open and she gasped as she felt another connection between them pop into existence. Letting it all go she dived into his mind and heard her name over and over.

Sookie…I love you….love you so much…Sookie

She groaned and raised her legs higher on his back, falling further into him, they folded themselves and each other until there was only being there.

"Love you, too," she told him raising her hips to meet his every thrust never wanting to be apart from him again. Pushing even deeper he broke eye contact and buried his face in her neck.

"You're sure," he asked her knowing that it would kill him if she said no.

"YES! YES!" She called out over and over as he bit her and a second later he felt her fangs slide into his neck as well. That was when he exploded inside her, grunting as he lapped the blood from her neck and trying to get closer. It was an urge that no action could fully satisfy. A second later she came hard around him, and moaned in his neck, sucking him with her mouth and the hot tight muscles of her slick channel.

She took everything he had into her and gave him everything she was in return. For just a moment he could see her thoughts in the light bond they had forged. It was a collage of his face in moments from the time they had met right up to now held together by the overwhelming sense of love that he felt from her.

He collapsed on top of her and felt her arms embrace him, pulling him closer still. Neither of them spoke but they were both thinking of the same little blonde girl in field full of flowers under a bright yellow sun, and they felt more at peace than they ever had before in their long lives.


	32. Sir Reads A Lot

**The Big Bang- Sir Reads A Lot**

Once the decision was made they gave themselves over to it completely. There was no day and no night, her blood removed his need to die, his removed her need to recover physically from their extended passionate interludes. It was pure bliss, interrupted only by their declarations of pleasure and love. Their whole world shrunk to contain just the two of them, and they could not stand to be apart, to not be touching each other, entangled and enthralled.

They explored each other outside in the yard and then moved into the old farmhouse where they rolled through each room, redecorating them with sighs of pleasure and moans of ecstasy. He took her in every conceivable way, and still she begged him to do it again over and over. At times she grew impatient with his gentle loving nature and would take control, savagely kissing him, biting his lips to taste his blood as she rode him, howling her own release.

At times her frenzy provoked him to heights he had never dreamed of in his immortal existence. As he took her hard from behind while she as on all fours on the dining room table his mind flashed back to her warning the first night they met.

There is the remotest possibility that you will not survive my voracious sexual appetite.

He growled at the memory and pulled her back onto him harder. It was a possibility that did not seem so remote at this moment, but as he had told her in return, fortune favors the bold. She shifted in front of him then, and he shoved her forward on the table, climbing up with her at vampire speed.

"OH! FUCK,YES!" she screamed as he pulled her up to rest her back against his chest, still thrusting deeply into her while he used his hands on her hips to bring her down repeatedly to meet him. From the sounds she was making he was hitting all the right spots in this position. One of his hands came off her hip to cup her breast. She arched her back, pressing into his chest, while presenting him the full weight of her into the palm of his hand. He tugged her nipple between two fingers, imitating the pressure he placed with his lips when he suckled her.

Her pleasure at his action traveled right to the tight embrace she had around him inside her, and he moaned now feeling her quiver around his engorged oversensitive shaft. She slammed herself down harder now, taking him as deep as she could. His hand pushed her forward again while he sat back and he watched himself moving in and out of her, coated in her slickness and his seed, almost undone by seeing how his cock stretched her open to take him. He was so fucking close to filling her again, he just needed a little more to let go.

He released her hips then and rose up, never breaking rhythm as he caged on her the table, freeing his hips to pound her. The room filled with the sound of their flesh colliding over and over again. He could feel his body nearing release when suddenly she pulled away and flipped around underneath him, opening raising her legs to him, pulling him back down and into her. Her feet landed on his hips and her legs worked to pull him closer as she attacked her his neck in hot open mouth kisses.

"Love the taste of you," she mumbled against his skin, "the feel of you," she went on winding her fingers through his hair. He could feel her fangs and it made him shiver and fuck her even harder.

"Do it! Do it!" he bellowed just before he sank his fangs into her neck. They came as one, they became one.

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The time of mating ended as suddenly as it had begun. They were laying in her bed, limbs entangled, bodies completely satiated. He felt her fingers gently moving through his hair, making his scalp tingle and through the bond he felt contentment and peace from her. Now that he could focus he could tell that it was night outside, but beyond that had no measure of how much time had passed since they had decided to fulfill their mutual desires.

Part of his undead heart was aching now, if the mating was over and Sookie was back to herself, there was a chance that she would tell him that he had made a mistake and that he had broken her trust. He still believed they had done the right thing, what he needed now was for Sookie to reassure him that she agreed.

Though neither of them felt pressed to join again, he still wanted to be touching her, needed to be touching her. He sensed the same need from her in the bond. Rising, he picked her up gently in his arms and took them to the bathroom where he ran a large bubble bath for them both. Sitting down and placing her between his legs so that she could rest against his chest, he laced his fingers through hers. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the palm of it softly, before repeating the action with her other hand. She sighed and he felt her body relax into him. Long moments passed in silence and finally he could stand it no longer.

"Was it really what you wanted, Sookie?" She nestled further back into him, pulling his arms around her.

"Yes, it was." She stopped then and took a deep breath. "I know I didn't when we met. I told you I wanted a partner who could give me no offspring. It never occurred to me that you could do that, and I only wanted you. I've only ever really wanted you. It seemed like a more than fair trade." He smelled her tears then. "I never dreamed that I could have both. That the world would have changed so much as to allow me this miracle."

"What do you mean?" he asked her softly.

"It shouldn't be possible. What we have done goes against all the rules of nature as I understand them, and yet when I stepped into that circle and felt the power emanating from the earth I knew in my bones that we were supposed to do this together." He took a sudden unnecessary breath as her words sunk in.

"What we have done?" he asked her softly. "So then we…? She nodded, bumping her head on his chest.

"Yes, we are going to be parents." He turned her to face him then and kissed her, pushing all his joy to her through the bond at the idea of the daughter they had both dreamed of. She broke the kiss laughing.

"So you're happy about this then?" she asked him, looking deep into beautiful blue eyes that seemed to be shining from within.

"Oh, hell yes!" he kissed her again, before he stopped and looked at her.

"I did the right thing then? She smiled at him.

"You did the perfect thing, just like always, Eric." She touched his face then and he turned into her hand, savoring her touch. After placing one last kiss on his lips she turned again to rest against his chest. They sat in silence then, just feeling each other's joy. Her hand rested on her middle and his came to rest on top of hers. Finally, he remembered what she had said.

"What do you think changed that made this possible now, Sookie?"

"I'm not sure. I would ask, but there is no one left that I could ask. I am alone now." He hugged her tightly.

"I know you have lost much, but you will never be alone again. I am here. Soon our little girl will be here. We will be with you. Together we can figure this out, Sookie."

"I know I have to be stronger now, I have to make sure to keep you both safe," she said softly from his arms. He sighed.

"WE have to be stronger, Sookie. I will keep you both safe, too. One of us is not as strong as both of us together. Don't shut me out, Sookie." She turned to him then.

"No! No, I'm not shutting you out! That is not what I meant," she told him fiercely. "I just meant that I can't lose either of you. I need you both now. I will do everything I can to protect you and her, Eric."

"Including letting me help?" he asked her raising an eyebrow and smirking at her.

"Yes," she said, sounding as though she meant it.

"The world is not on your shoulders alone. This, what we have made together is not your responsibility alone, Sookie. Stop trying to take it all on yourself and let those who love you help, too." She nodded again, tucking her head under his chin. "So," he said hesitantly, how does this work now? What happens now?"

"I assume you mean besides having a baby?" he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Yes, besides that. Will your power return now that you are pregnant?"

"Yes. I will need to rest for a few days, but I can feel it starting to return already. I will be as strong as I was and more so, right up until I give birth."

"And how long with that be?"

"Pure Fae pregnancies are short, three to four weeks, usually at most. I have no idea what this term will be. There has never been a Fae Vampire hybrid born that I am aware of. It takes one night to make a vampire right?"

"Yes," he told her softly.

"So, then I guess we are looking at anywhere from one day to four weeks."

"How fast will the child grow, do you think?"

"Full Fae children grow in spurts and usually reach the appearance of adults within five years of birth. They mature over the next several hundred years, their powers growing as they do. Then somewhere between five hundred and a thousand years they will start mating cycles."

"How often do these cycles occur?"

"Depends on the fairy. Usually more than five years, but less than ten."

"So long?" he asked softly.

"For creatures who live practically forever, that really isn't that long." He growled in his chest at her words. "Oh," she laughed, looking up at him now, "I see how it is. You don't want to wait ten years to spend another week like this with me?" she teased him.

"No, I was thinking I might be recovered enough in ten years to do this again," he teased back, kissing the end of her nose, before rising with her in his arms to exit the now chilled tub.

"I did give you fair warning," she told him as he dried her off.

"You told me nothing! You said 'voracious'. I had no clue!" She laughing out loud then.

"Oh, so what words would you use now that you have survived your first mating cycle?" she asked as he carried her back to bed and tucked her in, spooning up behind her.

"Well…I definitely would start with voracious, and then I would bring my point home by adding words like, 'unquenchable', 'uncontrolled', 'insatiable', 'prodigious', 'rapacious', 'ravenous', and ' unappeasable'." She had turned to face him, her hands wandering over his body under the covers right around the time he got to 'insatiable'. "What are you doing exactly, aside from proving me right, of course?" She giggled.

"I'm looking for the thesaurus that you obviously smuggled into bed with us. You do realize all the words mean the same thing as voracious, right?"

"Thesaurus? I don't have a thesaurus! I read a lot," he told her sounding slightly put upon.

"Uh-huh," she said, still caressing his long perfectly formed limbs with her soft hands. "So, then you know, Sir Reads A Lot, that all those words you just said are synonymous with 'voracious'?"

"Of course, my lady. It wasn't that your choice of words were inaccurate," he whispered moving in for a slow kiss on her lips.

"It wasn't?" she asked breathlessly, when he finally released her to speak.

"Not at all. It was just that one word failed to convey the magnitude of your appetite. If you had added the others with it, I would have had a better idea what I was getting into."

"And what then? You would have tipped your hat at me and ran from Oklahoma as though the devil himself were on your heels?"

"Not at all, my dear. I would have fallen to my knees and asked you where you had been for my entire life." She giggled then.

"Sweet liar," she told him.

"Your sweet liar," he fired back.

She answered by mugging his lips with her own, taking no prisoners. They made love then, quietly and sweetly because it was all about want and not about need.

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Sookie was still asleep when he rose the next night. Since she had told him that she needed a few days to recover he let her rest. He brought in more wood, and then went to do his usual perimeter check which had been neglected the past four days. He found nothing that indicated they had been found and headed to the front of the house ready to enter when he saw the Ancient Pythoness sitting on the front porch swing.

"So, wasn't there something you wanted to ask me?"


	33. Worthy

**The Big Bang- Worthy**

Eric fell to his knees in front of the Ancient Pythoness, at once relieved to see her and terrified. She had information that he needed, but her appearance here at this time told him that he would be needing it very sooner than he had hoped.

"Rise and come sit beside me child." Once he was beside her he searched for the right words. "Thank you," he said quietly. "Thank you for the gift that you have given me in Sookie and in our child." She nodded her head a faint smile on her lips.

"They are indeed yours, and you have proven yourself worthy time and time again."

"How do I save them from the Darkness?"

"There is much darkness around us now, and more coming. Of which do you speak?"

"In the vision I saw the Mothers and Fathers, and I saw Sookie, pregnant with our child before the Darkness took her. I heard your voice tell me that you could tell me how to save them."

"You have to be willing to die for them." Her words rocked him. He was to lose her then. To save her and their unborn daughter he would have to meet the True Death. He saw them again in the field of flowers, and it cut him to the bone that he would not be there to share that with her, with them.

_But they will have it, and that is what matters!_ He told himself fiercely, forcing down his anger and regret. "I will do what must be done!" He swore, fighting to keep the emotion out of his voice. Still needing to understand his vision he pressed on. "Sookie says that all things are connected, all beings in the web of creation. This is what I saw in the vision. There were gaping holes in creation from those who had fallen already and the Dark was coming to take the rest. What is the meaning of this?"

"All things change, even creation itself. Does the fact that you saw her there among the Mothers and Fathers of all not tell you what you need?"

"She is a Mother?"

"Yes, the mother of a new race, for a new time and a new world. You have given her that." His heart swelled with love as he saw her there again in his mind. "It is in such ways that creation grows and heals itself from the actions of others, from the actions creation itself takes."

"Creation itself?" he echoed, not understanding.

"All things change, even creation itself," she told him again. "You know from your time walking this world that creation can be a dark and boiling vat, not always a place of light and kindness. Sometimes, there must be destruction, there must be apocalypse that life can begin anew."

"You knew what was going to happen at the hotel," he tone accusing.

"Yes, it is my gift and it is my curse to know these things."

"You could change all this! You could stop the destruction and the death that we have already faced and what is yet to come!" He stood now, looming above her, lost in a sense of futility for all that they had done and might yet do. She could stop it all if she got off her ancient ass and told them what they needed to know.

"You forget the first lesson, young one. Knowing a thing does not change it."

"Stop talking in riddles and tell me the truth! Please!" he begged falling to his knees again before her.

"I have told you what you need to know," she said softly, but not without compassion.

"Sookie said that you and Morgana had been friends since she was a child, and you let her die! You let The Council die! You let Niall die! How? How can you be this way?"

"It is my gift and my curse to know these things. Knowing a thing does not change it." He opened his mouth to speak again, to yell again, to demand that she tell him something useful but she cut him off.

"To presume that you can question me is something I have allowed out of compassion for the news I have just given you. I understand you want more. You can't have it. I told you four hundred years ago what you needed to know, and you remembered it when you needed it. You need to find faith in me now."

"You could have saved them as you saved yourself," he spat her.

"I did not save myself. I have saved another." She rose then, and walked off the porch and into the night, leaving him there on his knees, his heart breaking and his rage bubbling in his veins.

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He remained on the porch, turning her words over in his mind for hours. Sookie ghosting out in a long white gown and curling into his lap brought him back to the present. "What's wrong, Eric?" she asked cuddling up to him. "I can feel your pain in the bond. What's happened?" Before he could speak he noticed that there was something different about her. His hand came up and cupped her now slightly swollen belly. Her hand came down to rest on his.

_So fast!_ He thought, awed at the changes in her body and what they meant. They had really done this, together! For a moment pure joy filled him and he pulled her closer to him.

"Yes, she is growing quickly. So quickly, that it would seem to be shorter term than a full Fae pregnancy." She kissed his cheek softly then. His voice caught.

"How soon do you think?" he asked out loud, while inside he wondered, _Will I get to see her before-_

"What do you mean, will you get to see her? Before what? What's happened, Eric?" She was growing agitated now, sitting up in his arms. Being bonded to a telepath definitely had its down side.

"Pythia was here earlier." She stiffened in his arms.

"What did she say? Tell me! Tell me right now!"

"She told me how to save you and our little girl," he whispered into her hair, pulling her back down to his chest and starting to rock her slowly. She picked the rest from his mind.

"No fucking way!" she screamed flinging herself out of his grasp and standing before him, light flashing in her eyes. Suddenly the clouds started to gather in the sky above her farm house, thunder rolling in the sky.

"Sookie, calm down! Calm down. Look at what you are doing!" He tried to reach for her again, but had to step back when she started to light up. Lost in her own fear and rage at what she had seen in his mind, she rose off the porch and out into the yard.

"I will call down the heavens and kill any who try and take you from me!" She started to spin then, pulling down the clouds into a funnel as she spun in the yard, creating a mini tornado around her as she howled her rage and pain. If the Ancient Pythoness had been there it is very likely she would have met her end in the manifestation of Sookie's rage and power. He lost sight of her in the middle of the funnel, causing his own fear to sky rocket.

Taking off from the porch like a dark Superman, he shot straight to the heart of the storm and swept her into his arms. "Stop this, Sookie," he whispered into her ear as he molded his body to hers. She heard him and the storm immediately started to calm, the winding dying down and the clouds breaking up and moving away. She was sobbing in his arms now, repeating her denial over and over.

"No, I will not let this happen! I will not!"

"Shhh," he calmed her with his voice, while rubbing her back and sending calm and love through the bond to her. He felt her rage shift then.

"You've accepted this!" she screamed at him now! "You aren't even going to fight! You bastard! You promised me I was not alone! You promised me that you would be here with me! YOU FUCKING PROMISED!" She screamed, the wind staring to howl again.

"I am going to fight! I am going to fight for every second I can have with you! I have not accepted my True Death! I have only accepted that if it is necessary to save you and the little one that I will do it, and never regret the sacrifice!"

The use of her power so massively, so soon after mating had exhausted Sookie physically, and feeling the truth of Eric's words in the bond finished her. She collapsed in his arms, her eyes rolling back in her head as he caught her in his arms. "Sookie!" he quickly checked her vitals and realized that she had just fainted. He took her into the house and placed her on the bed, getting her a glass of water and placing it by the bed before spooning her from behind, his hand automatically going to the baby as he buried his face in her hair.

**Are you all right, little one?** He sent to the child under his hand, not really expecting an answer, but he got one. There was a tickling sense of tiny fingers caressing his mind and he knew in his heart that their child had responded to his mental query. He allowed himself a smile. _Another beautiful woman that I will be able to hide nothing from. _ And then it hit him, that he would likely never know his daughter and his ancient heart broke right in half as he fully realized everything he would be missing if he made the sacrifice that Pythia had foretold.

Sookie stirred in his arms then, and turned to embrace him. **I haven't given up,** he sent to her. She answered with a kiss that melted him from the toes up, a slow burn that moved fast through his whole body. She removed her gown quickly, and then his clothes more slowly, trailing kisses slowly along each stretch of skin that she revealed. Her kisses told him that not only did she want him, she needed him with her, forever.

He had fallen onto his back as she removed his clothes, watching her, feeling her. Each kiss a promise that she would never let him go. When she moved to his lap and slid him into her wet heat he moaned and moved to cup her breasts in his hands. "They've grown," he whispered in awe. She leaned down to kiss him, sighing as she felt him shift inside her as the angle of her body changed. As she kissed him she brought one of his hands down to rest on her swollen stomach. She rocked her hips a little then, making sure she had his attention.

"I'm only whole like this," she whispered to his lips. "I'm only any good to anyone when I am with you…when we are with you." She started rocking on his hard length again. "I've had you for days now, and I know, I know that I don't ever want to be without you." She started rocking faster then, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes as she placed her hand over his on her stomach. "How am I supposed to care about a world that doesn't have you in it, Eric?" She asked him sobbing out her broken heart. He sat up then, pulling her to him.

"Because she will be in it. I will still be here, because she will be here. Part of me will always be with you, Sookie. The best part of me," he kissed her then and employed every skill he had required to shift her attention from what they might lose, to focus on what they had, in that that moment, the ones before and the ones yet to come, no matter if they short numbered. "People dream of what we have, Sookie," he told her as he kissed her neck and used his hand to caress her in just the right spot as she picked up her pace, moving her hips harder on him. "They wander through their lives and only dream of what we have had already." She flung her arms around his neck and sobbed.

"That's why I won't give it up. I will fight for it! I will fight for us." Her words went straight to the heart of him and he couldn't stand to hold back another second. Who knew how many more seconds like this they would have?

"We will fight together when the time comes, Sookie, but for now, let go for me. Be here for me now, let me see your beautiful face in the peak of passion and love. Show me, so that I know that I have served you well." He rubbed harder between her legs and thrust deeply into her, "Come for me, Sookie. Give yourself to me, completely."

His words undid her and she came hard around him, screaming and sobbing, not quite able to stop thinking of losing him, but it gave her passion a new sharper edge and her body responded to that desperation by peaking again and again until she felt his big body shake under her and heard his groan of release in her ear. The sound of his satisfaction set her off again, her body pulsing and rocked with the intensity of the passion she felt.

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Later, her held her, stroking her hair softly. Her tears and dried up now and he felt determination from her as her mind raced. He wanted to talk to her about whether they should stay here at her old farmhouse or if they should return to Oklahoma, but didn't want to upset her again right now. In the end, he was pretty sure whatever was coming would find them no matter where they were. Perhaps, remaining here would keep some of the lesser darkness at bay though. So far this house had been a sanctuary for them. A place where he had spent the happiest and most intense days and nights of his existence.

He was not in a hurry to leave, on so many levels.

He felt her start to drift off to sleep and he let her go. She would do what she had to do, of that he had no doubt, but so would he. No price was too great to save them. He held her until death took him for the day, and as he drifted away, he said a silent prayer to whoever was out there thanking them for all the time that he had been granted, and all the wonders that he had been allowed to see since his journey to Oklahoma.

He was so grateful for all of it that he had not the heart to pray for more. He wasn't sure he was worthy of what he had already been granted.


	34. We Go On

_Love the comments, keep them coming! :) You all had some great thoughts about Pythia's visit and some great suggestions about what might happen next. Let's hope I don't disappoint such great readers like you! :)_

**The Big Bang- We Go On**

Sookie slept for two days after her display in the yard. Eric kept a close check on her vitals, but she seemed fine, just exhausted. He stayed with her most of the time, leaving her side only long enough to do perimeter checks and to take a few moments to himself when the magnitude of their current situation overwhelmed him. In those moments he would step outside and look up at the stars, trying to remember that while this was huge to him, in the grand scheme of things he was smaller than one of those points of light above him.

In the grand scheme he did not matter. She did. Their daughter did. Everything else, it was what it was.

As hard as he tried he could find no peace in that. He comforted himself in knowing that while he could not truly prepare himself for what was to come, he would do what needed to be done in the moment. He had to. There was no other choice.

When she awoke the first thing she noticed were the massive changes in her body. In just those two days she had gone from barely showing to looking like she was seven months pregnant. The second thing she noticed was that Eric was hovered over her middle whispering so softly she couldn't make out his words. He turned to her and smiled when he heard her heart beat pick up, indicating that she was awake.

"Hey, beautiful," he whispered to her, not moving from her midsection.

"Pfft, I bet you say that to all the fairies you massively impregnate in magical circles in Louisiana." She forced herself to try and reach for normalcy. If she did lose him, she did not want to waste the time they had left on tears and recriminations.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He left a hand on her belly and moved up her body to kiss her hello. She kept the kiss light and playful, pushing back the desperation that she was still feeling.

"And do they swoon at your compliments?" she teased.

"I hope so. They are from the heart after all." He moved on to nuzzle her neck then, thinking he was being stealthy about taking in her scent but she knew what he was doing. He was looking for normalcy, too. That's what they did, they flirted, they laughed, they sniffed and they fucked, they loved knowing they had each other's backs no matter what.

_And I will have yours, Northman, no matter how stubborn you being about this!_

"Are you well, Sookie? You slept such a long time." He was kissing her neck softly now and she realized that he had not fed since the mating had ended.

"Yes, I am better now. How long was I out?"

"Two nights since…" he stopped, wanting to say what they both already knew. "I have missed you. The sound of your voice, the touch of your hands on me." He stopped talking as he ran his hands over her, and felt her in the bond. She did seem rested now and he relaxed into her, just enjoying being near her. His hand wandered down to her swollen belly again, not able to stay away. "I have watched her grow as you rested. It's happening so fast!" He looked up at her then, his gaze wide with wonder of the miracle he had borne witness to as she rested. "I think she will be here soon. One or two more nights at most."

Sookie, taking stock of her body and how it was feeling, had to agree. There wasn't much room left for their child to grow. "I heard something while you were sleeping," he told her quietly. His face never having looked more joyous or innocent than it did in that moment.

"What?" she asked, feeling his joy and excitement.

"Two heart beats, Sookie. Two!"

"Twins?" she tried to sit up and found that she could not under her own steam. He helped her, propping her up against him so that she could look down at her belly with him. "Fairies often have more than one baby, but since is all new I didn't think that would be the case, but, oh! Twins!" Tears came then and he rocked her, sharing her joy at this new revelation.

"Can you hear them, Sookie? I think at least one of them is a telepath like you." She frowned then, reaching out to see if she could hear anything. Nothing came back to her. She shook her head and looked at him with a frown. Carefully, he propped her up on some pillows and moved back to her middle on the bed.

**Little ones, can you hear me?** He sent to them. Within in seconds he felt the tingly fingers that he had come to believe were his children's thoughts brush his mind. Sookie gasped. "I can hear them, Eric! They know your voice!" She reached for his hand. Resting his head on her belly he turned to her and smiled.

"Perhaps if you snored they would know their mother was here, too." She squeezed his hand.

"I do not snore, Eric Northman!"

"Well, then make whatever sound it is that you make that is not snoring and let them know you are here, Beloved." He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the look on her face. _Gods, I love her so much_, he thought as he watched her pretend to puff up and be angry with him for his teasing. He watched her tuck her hair behind her ear and raise her eyebrow as she thought of the perfect come back to get him. He saw her talking but was not able to listen as he felt himself blown away by her beauty in that moment, sitting there, the sheet pooled around her waist, swollen with his children and glowing.

_She is everything I ever dreamed of wanting._

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They decided to leave that night. After bathing and dressing they took one last look around the old farmhouse, him thinking he had never been happier than he had been here with her, and her thinking that if she lost him she would never set foot here again.

They arrived at the door of King of Nevada seconds later and rang the bell. Pam answered the door and her face lit up in a smile as she took them in from head to toe, and then back to Sookie's middle. Her eyes grew large and her mouth dropped open slightly as she tried to process the impossible and come up with a smart ass remark. Alcide sensing her emotions sped up to the door at vampire speed to see what was happening. Apparently, he had been around Pam for too long because the first thing out of his mouth sounded remarkably Pam like.

"Hey, Sookie. Why don't you come in and sit down, looks like you're bursting with things to tell us." The vampire comedy gene was twisted one indeed.

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Once all the strange and awkward one liners had run out they all sat down together and came up to speed. Eric and Sookie first, with their news of the twins and their visit from Pythia.

"You just must missed her, here, by like an hour," Alcide told them, scratching his head, a remainder from his pure fairy days, something he did when he was nervous because vampires don't itch.

"What was she doing here?" Eric asked, coming to attention.

"She came by to tell me that she wanted me lead the new Council. She called me the "Forefather of new race," and said that they were destined to be a huge part of the supernatural world." Sookie leaned back into Eric and thought about that.

"That means there will be more like our children," Eric said aloud, echoing her thoughts. "More like you, Alcide, with the powers of both and the weaknesses of neither race." He sounded awed again, at the idea that he had been integral to creating such a being, on all fronts. Essentially, he was Alcide's grandsire, and now he was the father to the twins as well.

Alcide was having some trouble processing that himself. He had felt so alone since his turning. Telling himself over and over that no one could understand, only to find out that he was not the only, he was just the first.

"You must pave the way for them, Alcide. This is your gift, and this your curse. Embrace it and herald in a time like none this world has seen before," she had told him. "Once you and Sookie have saved this world for all of its inhabitants the generations to come will maintain it and continue to build a place for all to live and thrive."

Alcide told them what she had said and then squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. "When she says it sounds all righteous and there is no doubt. When I say it sounds like I am being melodramatic."

"The righteousness comes with age and practice," Sookie told him, a tad bitterly. She was still angry about the bomb Pythia had dropped in Louisiana.

"Have the other supernaturals selected their representatives?" Eric asked, ever the man on topic.

Alcide shook his head, "It's still in progress, but she left her proxy here with me and gave me marching orders to start organizing and setting up the first new Council meeting in three weeks."

"Her proxy?"

"Yeah, apparently, she is giving me her authority as the last standing member and once the first meeting is in session she's going to take off the training wheels and turn it all over to me and the new Council members."

"Congratulations, Alcide," Sookie said, rising slowly to hug him. Eric pulled her back gently.

"He is still a newborn, Sookie, and right now you smell unbelievably divine. Best not." She sighed, he was right of course.

"You do smell really good, Sookie. I wasn't going to mention it, but since it came up, what is that smell?" his eyes dilated and his fangs dropped as he took in a deep breath of her. Eric growled, and he put his fangs away.

"Hormones," she mumbled under her breath and no one was sure if she was answering the question, or commenting on their display.

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Alcide and Pam stepped out then to feed, so that there would be less temptation with Sookie. Eric stayed with her on the sofa in Alcide's office thoughts of what they had just learned running through his mind when all of sudden she jumped beside him, letting out a soft exclamation. Before he could ask she took his hand and placed it on the side of her belly. He jumped at the kick that hit his hand.

"They didn't do that before!" he exclaimed, excited like she had never seen him. She just smiled and held his hand there, letting them pound against his large hand. She felt them shifting around and felt intuitively they were lining up to exit in the near future. She pushed all the dark away for a few moments and just shared this one with her family.

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"We took Quinn, as you instructed before you left," Pam told them when she and Alcide returned.

"And what did you find?" Eric asked.

"He was deep in New York's pocket, along with three other of your household staff. They had been reporting to him exclusively for over six months. They gave him everything from your schedule down to what you like for breakfast and where you buy your underwear. We took all of them and have them imprisoned here. What do you want to do with them?"

"I'd like to see the detailed reports before we make any final decisions," Eric said. "There could be some way to turn this to our advantage." Alcide nodded and told him he would get them together for them to take with them to Oklahoma.

"We were pretty aggressive on our questioning, but there could be others there that we do not know about," he cautioned them as he summoned Hamilton to gather the data that Eric had requested.

"Understood," Eric told him. "I would like to talk to Pam alone before we go," he said rising. "Will you be able to control yourself for a few moments, Alcide?" the threat implicit in his words. Pam rolled her eyes.

"Alcide, as your maker I command you not to feed from Sookie." Despite the front he had been putting up be was relieved that the choice had been taken from his hands.

"Thanks," he told Pam with a smile as she and Eric left the room.

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"So, it's better now with you and Pam?" Sookie asked as soon as they were gone.

"It's getting there. Your little pep talk did a lot to get my head on straight with regards to who was at fault for this."

"Good. And do you still hate my fucking guts?" He chuckled.

"Sometimes, yes I do." He looked at her then, and saw that she was fighting as hard as she could to keep it together. He was still mad as hell at her for the decision that she had made, but she would always have a special place with him. "It'll all be, ok, Sookie."

"Yes," she said through clenched teeth. "It will be because it has to be. I can't lose him! I won't!" He wondered for a moment what he would be feeling now if Pythia had dropped the same bomb on him about Pam. Rage ripped through him at the idea that someone might hurt her, take her from him.

"If there is anything I can do-"

"You and Pam will be the first ones I call," she promised.

"What are you planning to do now, Sookie?" She took a deep breath before answering him.

"This is going to find us no matter what we do. Pythia told us that by telling us everything else. There is nowhere to run and there is nothing to do but brace. So, we brace, and we go on."

"Go on?"

"Yes, we go on living as though it's not on borrowed time, as though all the tomorrows are guaranteed to be ours, as we did before we knew that they might not be, because, the sad truth is that they never were. Even immortals die. So, we go on, because it's all we can do."

More glad than ever for Pam's command he moved to her then and embraced her, sending her strength for the battles known, but yet to come.

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"What's it like?" Pam asked as soon as they were alone.

"It's like when I made you, daughter. All the joy, the sense of being responsible for another, the desire to always do your best for them. You were born in a different way, Pam, but you are no less my child than the ones that Sookie carries now." She nodded, reassured of her place with him.

"What do you need, Master?"

"Your word."

"If you survive or if you fall, I will fight to the death for Sookie and for my siblings. You have my word." He hugged her then, feeling so proud of her and hoping that he had a chance to raise more just like her. Her face buried in his large chest she asked the question that had been burning in her mind since she first realized Sookie's condition.

"Do you think that I could have this, too, Master?" He hugged her tighter, feeling her longing in their bond. He gave her the only answer he had, knowing that it wouldn't give her peace but it would leave her hope.

"My beautiful child, in a brave new world such as this, all things are possible."

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They teleported back to Oklahoma after promising to call the next night with instructions regarding the prisoners. They had been on the doorstep just a moment when Sookie's fear ripped through their bond. She was reaching his arm when the front door opened and a figure moved toward them at vampiric speeds. She was just starting to light up when the vampire placed the iron shackles on her wrists, removing her ability to teleport. Eric was moving then too and he had the vampire by the throat and off the ground when he realized who he was holding.

"As your maker, I command you to release me, Eric." He set Appius on the ground gently and stood there, shoulders down, unable to fight his maker.

From the door behind him he heard someone clapping.

"Excellent," the King of New York, said. "Now, bring them inside, Appius."


	35. The Full Set

**The Big Bang- The Full Set**

As they entered the house Eric took note that the same four Fire Fae guards were with Appius and Gavin that had come to Fae to claim Sookie. His mind immediately started racing to figure out how to make sure that if he was going to die here that he would leave Sookie every advantage possible to ensure her escape. There might be nothing he could do about Appius but he could even the odds by dealing with the Fae. He cut his eyes to Sookie and sent her concern in the bond. He could feel her pain from the iron, but it was not as much he expected. That meant that while they wanted to subdue her, the iron content in the shackles was low.

_Gavin protecting his prize,_ he thought sourly. They moved up the stairs to the red room where he had first met Sookie when he arrived in Oklahoma.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Gavin, asked taking in Sookie's pregnant form. "Has something happened that mars my perfect set?" He walked toward her boldly placing his hand on her protruding belly. "Who did this, Sookie?" She tried to step back and away from his touch, but one of his guards caught her and held her so that he could continue to touch and probe her. Eric was not able to stop the growl that built up in his chest at the sight of his hands on Sookie, but he didn't move.

He wanted to, but so far Appius had only commanded that he put him down, and if he brought attention to that fact he might lose the one advantage he still had before could figure out how to use it. He could still defend Sookie, he could, if the right opportunity presented its self, still kill Gavin. Even if it meant his guards took him out. Despite his instincts telling him to move, he held on, and waited.

Gavin had looked at Eric as he growled and realization dawned on him. Eric would never have let another impregnate Sookie. Which meant, this was his offspring. He stepped back, a wondering look on his face for a moment as he suddenly burst into laughter, clapping once again. "Oh! This is perfect! I will indeed have the perfect set now! Marvelous!" He stepped back then and continued to look at Sookie in awe. "How? You must tell me how you managed to make this happen! Can you do it again? Could I have a litter of Vae offspring in my collection?"

"What are you going on about?" Appius asked from the corner of the room where he had been leaning since they entered.

"Oh, Appius! You're going to be a Grandpa!" Gavin was laughing and clapping again. His mind was racing as to how he could use this situation to help reinforce the current unsteady structure of the Ciar. Since Niall had died and he had taken lead on their efforts he had been hearing reports of turn coats and traitors moving over to the Albho. The empathy for Sookie, and the Fae reaction to how she had shown compassion to all Fae after A Sky Full of Stars, even after The Council had backed her, had inadvertently tipped opinion in her favor.

The Fae community as a whole saw her now a leader, perhaps the kind that was strong enough to lead the Fae into a brighter future where mass extinction was not a requirement. Oh, but when they see what she has done, how she has betrayed everything that the Fae represent, life, and light for her vampire lover who only walks the night and that she is heavy with his offspring, they will burn her to the ground! This is exactly what I need to shift the tides and add a one of a kind Vae to my collection. I don't even need Sookie and her pet vampire anymore. I will have their offspring to show the Fae world what will happen if they fall behind her! Oh, but to have the full set…the Fae that loved a night walker, and the night walker who fathered the first Vae…that really was almost too good to pass up.

Appius lost patience with Gavin and his half answers. He had been losing patience with Gavin a lot in the past few nights, but had held his tongue. When Gavin told him what Eric had been up to he had first been disbelieving, and then enraged. He had been oblivious as Eric had kept his end of the bond closed since he had left Louisiana. That had not been a surprise as Appius had seen that Eric had shut his progeny off as well. It didn't matter, Oklahoma had promised him pain, and suffering. She had been very convincing.

"Eric, I command you, explain what Gavin is talking about." Rather than fight and waste his precious strength that he might need later he complied with this maker's command.

"Sookie is carrying my children."

"CHILDREN?!" Gavin completely lost himself then. "This is too good to be true. A full set, the Fae, the Vampire and a pair of Vae!" He began pacing the room, lost in his thoughts of how to use this to his best advantage. Eric took advantage of his distraction to reach out to Sookie.

**Love, if I can get the shackles off, will you be able to teleport immediately?** She shook her head slightly, indicating that she would need some recovery time. **Would you be able to access any of your powers immediately?** She shrugged slightly, no way to know. She pushed her love to him in the bond and he felt warmed and held in her emotions. He sent the same back to her, looking deeply into her eyes from across the room. **I love you, Sookie. No matter what happens next, I loved you from the moment I first saw you. I will love you forever!**

Sookie did not speak, but she redoubled what she was sending in the bond so that he could feel her, even if he couldn't hear her. Silent tears were slipping down her cheeks as her love battled with her rage at the idea of losing him. She cursed herself then for not taking Appius out before, but there had been so much happening since Eric arrived here. _You will make mistakes, Sookie. We all do. Don't dwell on what you did wrong. Figure out how to do it better._ Niall had told her that long ago, and despite all that had happened, hearing his voice in her head now, and remembering the time when there had been nothing between them but love made her stand a little taller now, despite the iron and the guard holding her shoulders.

Eric saw her stand taller and felt his heart swell with pride. She flicked her eyes to Appius, who like Gavin, seemed lost in his own thoughts for the moment and sent curiosity through the bond. She wanted to know what he was here for, if Gavin wanted to collect them, where did Appius fit into that plan? Gavin might be fool enough to think he had the ancient monster that was Appius under control, but Sookie knew better.

It was Eric's turn to shrug. In all this crazy that currently surrounded them, he was the wild card. **He will want pain. My pain, for as long as he can get it. It is what he has always wanted.** He felt Sookie's rage again in their bond. He didn't try to comfort her. First, it would he would have been a lie, and second he respected her too much to treat her as anything other than a comrade in arms.

He saw her then in his mind, the first night he had met her, here in this very room. _ "I have no illusions, Eric. I know what you are, and I know what that means. We are natural enemies, we are both opportunistic creatures, but we also understand honor, and passion, and the value of comrades in arms. " _** Oh, what a ride it's been, my love,** he sent to her then, allowing a small smile to light up his face as he thought of all they had seen and done together in their brief time.

She saw his memories of their introduction and heard his words of praise and love and in that moment would have given anything to have him be able to hear hers. The woman who loved him above all things would fight to the death to protect him, but the comrade that he recognized her to be, the warrior of honor would kill Eric herself before she let Appius have a single drop of pain and suffering from the man she loved. That was a last resort though. Plan A was to kill Appius. She liked Plan A, a lot, and more with every second that passed.

"Appius it's time to go. Tell your progeny-"

"No," Appius spoke quietly from the corner, still not moving not even looking at Gavin.

"Appius, I don't have time for this. You need to-"

"Eric, kill the guards." The third head dropped to the floor before the word kill was past Appius' lips. Appius moved just as quickly and had cuffed New York in a set of iron shackles, while also taking out the fourth guard. Not a single fireball had been launched.

All of this had happened too fast for Sookie to follow, but when it was over, she found herself standing in the midst of four headless bodies, two ancient vampires, a shackled fairy king, and her own shackles had been loosened. Eric looked at her and winked. He had given her the opportunity, now she had to find a way to slip them off and stall for time to recover.

"Appius!" Gavin screamed, not quite up to speed on what had just happened. "I demand that you let me go, right now. This was not part of our deal."

"Deals change," came Appius' cold reply as he looked at Sookie, assessing her again, with new eyes. She stood tall under his probing gaze, refusing to look away.

"I demand that you let me go, this very instant!" Gavin yelled again, still not quite registering that he was no longer in a position to demand anything at all.

Appius looked at Sookie again, and then he was beside her, his hand on her belly. "Why have you done this?" he asked deceptively calm. She looked deeply into his dark eyes, thinking that she knew what she would see. This was not her first meeting with Appius. In their previous discussions his eyes had been dead and cold, now they were afire with something she couldn't quite name. It seemed almost like…envy.

"I told you, Appius, they are in love!" Gavin screamed from the floor. Appius ignored him and continued to look at Sookie. In that moment she saw how very wrong she had been about the immortal before her. When they had met to discuss Eric coming to Oklahoma she had played to his hatred for his progeny and promised pain and suffering untold. When he had readily agreed she had been sure that she understood what motivated him was hatred and a strong streak of sadism, not to mention the desire for wealth. He had asked her for a billion dollars to have Eric come to her, and she had quibbled enough to make it seem like it hurt, but in truth had thought it a bargain.

Now as she looked into his eyes, she saw how very wrong she had been.

Appius loved Eric, probably just as much as she did, in his own twisted way. Two things happened in that moment, she split into trying to figure out how to answer his question that would not end her death, and she was reeling from this realization that what truly drove this creature to punish the man she loved was that he did not love his maker back with a similar passion.

He loved _her_ with that passion.

To tell Appius that she was carrying Eric's children because they loved each other would be a death sentence for them both. In that moment she pitied Appius more than she had ever pitied another creature on the face of this world. To show him that pity though would also be a mistake. Looking him in the eye, she matched her tone to his and gave the only answer she could that might buy them enough time to live and come up with a better plan.

"Power."

"Explain," he demanded, his hand tightening on her stomach. She refused to give in to her desire to cower and beg for the life of her unborn children.

"When I saw that The Fae King of Nevada was turned to vampire and retained both his fairy power and was granted vampire gifts as well I realized that I needed some of that power for myself. I didn't want to be turned," her voice filled with contempt as though the idea of being a vampire sickened her, "but if I could birth Vae, then they would be mine to command!" Appius looked into her eyes, weighing the truth of her words

"THEY ARE MINE!" Gavin screamed from behind Appius, breaking the staring contest between Appius and Sookie. "The vampire is mine! The Que-"

His words were cut off as Appius' hand closed around his neck. He looked at the Fae in his hands, his head turning to the side, looking at him curiously. There was an audible click as his fangs descended.

"The vampire is MINE!" he told Gavin, as he sunk his fangs deeply into Gavin's neck, drinking greedily until the Fae king disintegrated in his grasp, nothing left but a cloud of dust. He turned to Sookie then, his eyes fully dilated, his fangs still extended and bloody. "The vampire is MINE!" he said again, and vamped to her side. "He has been mine since the moment I saw him. He will be mine forever!"

Sookie, looking into the eyes of certain death, accepted it, and did they only thing she could do, she told the truth. "He will never love you," she whispered quietly, looking him in the eyes to drive home the truth. Appius stood there a moment with the weight of her softly spoken words cutting through him like silver knives. After a moment he stepped back and stood to the side.

"Eric, I command you to kill her. Kill her now."


	36. Chances

_A/N-Thank you all for your continued comments and support. This has been a great challenge and a lot of fun to write and your support has helped more than you could know! _

**The Big Bang- Chances**

Death or submission were the only two possible outcomes to the command of a maker. From the second the words left Appius Eric knew that he would die here in the red room where he had met his true love for the first time.

_Let it be so,_ he thought and fell to his knees as the pain started in his chest and radiated out through his limbs, burning. He did not bother to tell Appius that it was never going to happen. It was wasted energy that he needed to fight the command. Maybe she can still get away, he thought, as he turned everything he had into holding on, even as he felt the urge to follow the command dig deeper into his flesh and organs.

_Never!_

Appius, seeing his progeny go into a full fight against his command was stunned. In all the centuries, throughout all the pain he had inflicted, all the terrible things he had commanded Eric to do, he had never disobeyed, at least not after he realized the pain it would cause, the death it would bring. Eric was a survivor above all things. It was what had drawn Appius to him in the first place.

Appius moved to stand over Eric and started to reach out to him, his hand stopping an inch above his suffering head. He refused to console him in his rebellion. He kneeled down beside him, seeing the blood start to run from his ears as he struggled to disobey. "You were always so beautiful when you suffered," he told him as he let the past thousand years wash over him, taking him back, all the way to the beginning.

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Appius had roamed alone and in the dark for so long that when he first saw the man that would become Eric Northman the feeling that had started in chest had frightened him. He had come upon the raid of a small coastal town and saw Eric caught in a skirmish headed back the long boat. He had been captivated with the graceful form and perfect moves of the creature before him. His stance as he held his sword, swinging the hilt in his hand as he knocked back challenger after challenger, throwing his head back in laughter as he struck blow after blow that left his attackers on the ground. The war cry he emitted when his foes were vanquished. The camaraderie with his fellow Vikings as they boarded the boat and set sail for home, drinking and singing into the night as Appius floated above the boat in the dark night sky.

He had almost taken him then, when he stepped to the prow of the boat to relieve himself, but Appius stayed his hand, and waited and watched. Never before had he held himself back, he had never wanted to before, but this one was different.

He followed him home, watching from the shadows each night as he sat around the fire with his wife, his children, his friends and laughed. He was so alive! Alive in a way that Appius had never seen before and he was drawn to it. The light of the fire seemed to sink into his skin and shine back out again. Hiding in the shadows Appius imagined what it would be to have this man at his side through all of eternity. To feel his passion, his fire, to have that for himself! To feel that for himself, his own sun after centuries of darkness.

At night, when the fires were low and Eric would take his wife to bed, Appius would stand outside their long house and listen to their passion, stroking himself in time to the moans, imagining what it would be like to touch this golden god for himself, to be the one that pulled those sounds of pleasure from his long graceful throat, to feel his hand on his hardness, his mouth. It was too much! Night after night Appius found himself out side, unable to leave or turn away.

He came to hate Eric's wife because she touched with free ease what he coveted above all else, and seeing her carry his child was too much to bear. It was then that he came in the night and glamoured her from the bed she shared with his beloved, taking her outside and draining her slowly, night by night until she weakened to the point that childbirth killed her. He could have ended her quickly, but he wanted her to suffer as he did, to feel the pain that tore at him each night.

What he had felt to know that she would touch him no more had sent him flying through the night skies with such joy in heart! For a moment he thought that he knew, too then, what it was to be alive.

Again, he started to take him, but held back, clinging to the shadows, delaying his pleasure. He saw the funeral, the sadness in his golden boy and he wondered at why he was so moved to see the tears move down his face as he watched his wife burn on the pyre. I did that, he had thought, hiding in the dark. _I made those tears on his face!_ And he longed to leap from the dark and tell him, that even now, without even knowing Appius existed, he controlled his emotions, they existed because of HIM!

What Appius felt in himself as he watched Eric mourn was something so new again. Long ago he had decided that humans were beneath his contempt, but there was something about this one, this was so different! Imagining sharing the night with this beautiful Viking made everything seem new and exciting!

Appius was still clinging to the shadows when Eric's father told him it was time to take a new wife. He felt his heart fill with rage and jealousy when Eric had agreed to visit the next village and seek a bride.

_No! I won't do that again. I won't let that happen! The only hands that will ever touch him now are mine! _

He had followed Eric to the village and listened as he spoke to her father, promising livestock and allegiance with his clan for her hand in marriage. They agreed and a date was set, and to celebrate they passed around the honey mead. Appius watched him grow intoxicated as they celebrated, but it was when he saw the moment of unguarded lust on Eric's face as he looked at his bride to be across he fire that he decided he would wait no more.

That night he posed as a wounded man on the side of the road and waited.

The first taste of his long coveted prize was like nothing he had ever experienced. To have him there, his fangs buried in his neck as he feebly struggled for life was so arousing that as he fed him his sacred blood he had been forced to touch himself, coming to completion while Eric drank from his wrist. "Tomorrow night, you will share this pleasure with me," he had promised as he felt Eric die in his arms. Lovingly, he had taken him to ground, curling his body against Eric so that he would feel him when he first started to move the next night.

That moment, buried with Eric, anticipating an eternity of pleasure before them was the last moment of peace he had known for the last thousand years.

When Eric had awakened the next night he had been a wild thing, unreasoning and undesirous of his touch. Eric hated him for making him night walker, and though he was aroused by feeding Appius had to use the maker's command to force him to yield to his touch. It was too much to see all his dreams go up in flames as his willful child denied him at every side and corner unless he was forced to submit.

For so long the only thing he had wanted or needed was the feeling of Eric beneath him, feeling his pleasure as he moved in him, and while it was there, it was nothing more than the standard vampire response to sexual stimulation, and he had to command even that. He had wanted more. If he felt so much for Eric, was moved to such great lengths and changes within himself, why did the young Viking not return his passions?

The fire that he had seen in this being, the light that filled him, Appius had wanted that for himself! What he got was so dissatisfactory that Appius' affection soon turned to rage and a desire to hurt the creature who did not return his affections. A desire to make Eric feel the pain that he himself was now filled with. That he had no doubt he would carry for all the rest of his nights.

He thought of killing Eric, of removing the reminder that his love found him lacking and unworthy, but soon realized that this would not heal the wounds his ungrateful child so thoughtlessly inflicted on his maker, and it would allow Eric to be free as well. He could not allow that. Eric's suffering would match Appius' own, no matter how long it took!

That had been the beginning down the road that they now found themselves at the end of here in Oklahoma.

_Oklahoma._

Appius clenched his fists in rage, still denying a comforting touch to his rebellious progeny. Leaning down, he whispered to Eric, "Do you know why I gave you to her? I gave her to you because she promised you suffering and pain like you had never known before. I gave you to her so that you might finally see the cruelty of this world and come to love me better. I would not have left you here, I would have come for you, once I thought you had had enough to see the truth."

"T-truth?" Eric managed through clenched teeth.

"Yes, the truth. That you belong to me. That you belong with me. That we are one."

"NEVER!" came Eric's scream of denial, strong and furious despite his pain.

"Kill her. Kill her and end this pain, child." Eric did not answer this time, he just dug in and fought harder.

Sookie took this opportunity to slip the iron shackles from her wrists, hoping that she could recover quickly from the damage they had inflicted on her. Appius heard the shifting in the shackles and turned quickly to see what was happening. Seeing her free, he moved to her side, grabbing her by the back of her neck causing her to scream in pain. Eric was frozen and helpless. Everything in him wanted to move to her side, but his desire to help her was second to his need to kill her at his makers command. He dared not let himself move. Appius' scream cut through the room.

"YOU WOULD DIE FOR HER?" Eric rose to his knees and looked at his maker, blood running from his eyes.

"YES!" he roared, giving himself over to it completely, his body shuddering with no small sense of relief that at long last this would be over and Appius would hurt him no more, and right behind that regret, because he knew that Appius would never let Sookie live. I** am so sorry, my love,** he sent to her, hoping she could hear him over the pain that Appius was inflicting on her with his grasp.

"Then I will wait for you to die and I will kill her slowly, ripping your children from her first so that may watch me tear their tender flesh apart. There will be nothing of you left when I am done. All your progeny will die at my hand, and it will be as if you have never walked this earth!"

_Oh, Pam!_ Another regret digging into his soul. _My beautiful, child!_

No one heard her enter, but when her voice rang through the room all heads turned. "Appius, as your maker I command you to release the fairy and kneel before me," the voice of the Ancient Pythoness called out, sounding strong, steady and sure.

"NO! SHE WILL DIE BY MY HAND!" Before he could finish crushing her neck, Pythia moved faster than he could have imagined.

Sookie fell to the floor and Pythia now held him by the throat. "Release your child from your command."

"NO!" he roared, now fighting her command as Eric was fighting his. "HE WILL KILL HER! I WILL TAKE HIS JOY FROM HIM AS HE DID FROM ME! I WILL GO TO MY TRUE DEATH KNOWING THAT HE WILL EITHER JOIN ME OR KILL HER AND WALK ALONE WITH HIS PAIN FOREVER, AS I HAVE!"

Pythia looked at her child, with pity in her blind gaze. "I am so sorry, child." Appius stopped struggling and looked at his maker, confused. "You had so many chances to turn this around, to be better than you are."

"Better?" he spat. "What do you mean, better than I am?"

"A love like the one you bore for your child is a rare gift. Your selfishness took that gift and twisted into something dark and sharp like a petulant child when you couldn't have what you wanted. You never saw the possibilities of the creature you made, what he could have been to the world and to you if you had been stronger."

"I AM STRONG! NONE HAVE TAKEN HIM FROM ME. EVER!" She sighed then, her head hanging slightly down, but her grip on him never wavering.

"Strength is not in coveting a thing, nor in keeping a thing. Strength is in letting it go."

"YOU DON'T KNOW! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL! WHAT HAVE YOU EVER LOVED, MASTER? WHAT IN ALL THIS WORLD OR ANY OTHER HAVE YOU EVER LOVED?"

"You," she said softly. Appius looked at her his face a rictus of pain and questions. "I love you, Appius. I made you from love, I showed you love that you could neither understand nor accept. I understand how you feel, because I have been you, child. I am still you. I just took another road. I let you go, rather than punish you for not being able to return what I felt for you. Finding you here like this, is killing me inside. I wanted you to grow and become wiser with age. I wanted you to see that you can't force another to love you, and that punishing them for not loving you will only take you further away from your goal."

"HE IS MINE!" Appius tried again to get her to understand.

"And you are mine." Her other hand came up now, to gently caress his face. "What you do here tonight will change the face of the world. Can you find it in yourself to be the man I have always dreamed you to be? Can you be strong enough to let go, finally?" Her hand pressed in then and he saw for a moment the things that she saw every second of every night.

He saw this world currently filled with pollution and waste, reformed and clean, as it had been in his own human days.

He saw a sea of faces, human, Fae, Vampire, Shifter, Were, and Vae. The new race that Eric would father shining the way to this future.

He saw a glimpse of Creation itself, a web of strings that connect all things and in it he saw his beloved Eric shining brightly, healing the wounds of Creation around him, and long last, he saw Eric in the sun! His hair shining light as he ran through a field of flowers, laughing and smiling.

_He is magnificent! _

"You made that possible, Appius. No matter what dark turns you took after that, you made this possible because you loved this man enough to give him eternity at your side. Embrace that! Embrace that love and be free, my child. Accept the love that I offer you once again. Release your command."

Appius sobbed as the vision passed from him, and looked at his child on the floor. More than anything in that moment he wanted Eric to know that he had loved him, truly since the beginning. He did it the only way he could.

"Eric, as your maker I release you from the command to kill the fairy." Eric collapsed on the floor, groaning, and Sookie moved as quickly as she could to his side, kneeling , offering her wrist to him to help him heal. Appius saw then the love between them and knew that he had never had that with Eric, or with anyone in his long existence.

_My fault,_ he thought. _I was so focused on what I couldn't have, I missed any other chance along the way. _ He shut his eyes then, and whispered to Pythia. "Mother, maker, sister, grant me final peace." She cried out in pain at his words, and he remembered then that she had loved him, too. He opened his eyes and looked at her, understanding for the first time how very strong his maker had been. "Please."

She closed her hand, and removed his head, ending his suffering with a final brutal gesture of her love. She stood there a moment, and then she moved to Eric and Sookie who were still on the floor. "I am sorry that I couldn't come sooner. I had to wait. I had to give him every chance to make another choice."

Neither Sookie nor Eric spoke, but they saw clearly how very old and tired Pythia was as she moved slowly from the room where she had been forced to take the life of her beloved to save the world.


End file.
